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*  --      .      •  ••  _:^*r      • 


^-^Vi       -  -- 


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SWEDENBORG, 

A    HERMETIC    PHILOSOPHER. 

I5EIXG   A  6EQUEL  TO 

REMARKS  ON  ALCHEMY  AND  THE  ALCHEMISTS. 


SHOWING  THAT 

EMANUEL  SWEDENBORG  WAS  A  HERMETIC  PHILOSOPHER 

AND  THAT  HIS  WRITINGS  MAY  BE  INTERPRETED 

FROM  THE  POINT  OF  VIEW  OF 

HEKMETIC  PHILOSOPHY. 


WITH  A. 

CHAPTER  COMPARING  SWEDENBORG  AND  SPINOZA. 


"  One  truth  opcneth  the  way  to  another." 


NEW  YORK: 
D.    APPLETON    &   COMPANY, 

846   &   348   BROADWAY. 

1858. 


ENTERED  according  to  net  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1868,  by 
D.  APPLETON  &  CO., 

In  the  Clerk's  Office  of  the  District  Court  of  the  United  States,  for  the 
Southern  District  of  New  York. 


ADVERTISEMENT 


THE  writer  of  the  following  pages  desires  to  say 
that,  in  preparing  the  work,  it  has  been  no  part  of 
his  design  to  express  his  individual  opinions  upon 
the  topics  discussed.  His  purpose  has  been  to  sug- 
gest the  opinions  of  others,  especially  of  a  class  of 
men  scarcely  recognized  as  existing  in  the  world. 
The  art  they  profess,  called  after  the  name  of 
Hermes,  Hermetic  Philosophy,  is  so  little  known  at 
the  present  day  that  the  name  of  it  by  no  means  in- 
dicates it.  The  adepts  profess  to  be,  or  to  have  been, 
in  possession  of  a  secret,  which  they  call  the  gift  of 
God.  The  art  has  been  prosecuted  under  many 
names,  among  which  are  Alchemy,  Astrology,  and 
even  Chiromancy,  as  well  as  Geomancy,  Magic,  &c., 
under  all  of  which  names  it  has  had  deluded  follow- 
ers, who  have  been  deceived,  as  those  who  claim  to 
be  true  artists  say,  not  by  the  art  itself,  which  never 


1694423 


4  ADVERTISEMENT. 

"  did  betray  the  heart  that  loved  it,"  but  by  their 
own  selfish  passions,  which  play  the  Asmodeus  with 
so  many  that  the  few  who  escape  delusion  are  mysti- 
cal, not  to  say  mythical,  beings  who  are  supposed  to 
have  lived  upon  dreams. 

I  propose  now,  without  pretending  to  solve  the 
problem,  to  suggest  the  true  difficulty  in  the  study, 
which  I  take  to  be  this,  that  the  Alpha  in  the  art  is 
also  the  Omega,  and  the  Omega  the  Alpha,  and  the 
two  are  one.  Hence  the  difficulty  is  something  like 
that  of  finding  the  commencement  of  a  circle.  An- 
other mode  of  suggesting  the  difficulty  is  by  saying 
that  the  object  is  analogous  to  an  attempt  to  discover 
the  place  of  that  force  in  nature  called  gravity  or 
gravitation.  In  mechanical  calculations  this  force  or 
power  is  referred  to  a  certain  centre,  called  the  centre 
of  gravity ;  yet  every  one  knows  that  the  absolute 
centre  is  a  mere  point  and  physically  nothing  at  all, 
yet  there  is  no  particle  of  matter  free  from  the  influ- 
ence of  this  power,  and  every,  the  most  infinitesimal 
particle,  has  its  own  centre.  So  is  it  with  what  the 
Hermetic  philosophers  call  their  Mercury r,  which  they 
say  is  everywhere  seen  in  action,  but  nowhere  in 
essence. 

I  am  aware  of  the  fact  that  some  speculative 
spiritualists  of  the  present  day  have  much  to  say  of 
what  they  call  imponderables,  but  I  am  not  as  yet 
convinced  that  any  actual  thing  in  the  universe  can 


ADVERTISEMENT.  5 

be  an  imponderable,  except  possibly  those  invisible 
things  called  thoughts  and  affections;  yet  even 
these,  in  some  sense,  seem  to  be  the  most  powerful 
and  ponderable  of  influences,  moving  the  entire  be- 
ing of  man  in  spite  of  prejudices  and  of  ignorance 
the  most  absolute  and  immovable  in  themselves. 

It  is  to  little  or  no  purpose  to  give  a  mere  name 
to  a  subtle  influence  whose  mode  of  action  is  un- 
known, and  whose  existence  is  only  recognized 
through  an  observation  of  disconnected  effects,  our 
knowledge  of  which  is  chaotic  and  remains  chaotic 
because  no  principle  of  action  is  discovered,  and  yet, 
how  many  of  us  know  what  life  is,  except  precisely 
in  this  way  ?  We  see  it  everywhere,  "  the  birds  of 
the  air  fly  with  it,  the  fishes  of  the  sea  swim  with  it, 
we  carry  it  about  with  us  everywhere,"  yet  we  know 
not  what  it  is. 

Let  it  be  merely  supposed  now,  that  a  recluse 
proposes  to  himself  the  problem,  What  is  Life  ? — 
but,  as  this  word  is  common  and  is  imagined  to  car- 
ry some  meaning  with  it,  while  yet  the  student  enters 
upon  the  study  confessing  his  ignorance,  it  is  thought 
convenient  to  assume  another  name.  Let  it  then  be 
called  Mercury,  from  some  remote  analogy  of  this 
sort ;  that,  if  a  small  portion  of  this  mineral  be 
dashed  upon  a  smooth  extended  surface,  it  will  sepa- 
rate into  an  infinity  of  little  globules,  each  one  of 
which  has  the  entire  properties  of  the  whole,  and  like 


6  ADVERTISEMENT. 

so  many  mirrors  reflects  so  many  universes,  all  simi- 
lar to  each  other. 

Any  other  word  in  place  of  Mercury,  as  Salt  for 
example,  may  be  used,  or  a  word  may  be  invented 
without  any  meaning  at  all,  as  Hileg,  to  represent  the 
subject  sought  for,  which  is  to  be  found  not  by  the 
mere  definition  of  a  word,  but  by  the  properties  or 
principles  of  the  thing,  which  are  to  be  admitted,  not 
upon  authority,  but  by  observation  and  experience 
in  life,  always  keeping  in  view  "  the  possibility  of  na- 
ture," on  the  principle  that  though  the  artist  may  err, 
"  nature  when  rightly  handled  cannot  err." 

With  these  preliminary  remarks  I  shall  proceed 
to  the  object  I  have  in  view. 

E.  A.  H. 

NEW  YORK,  August,  1858. 


SWEDENBORG, 

A    HERMETIC    PHILOSOPHER. 


CHAPTER  I. 

IT  is  more  than  probable  that,  on  reading 
the  title-page  of  the  following  work,  some  may 
ask,  what  is  meant  by  Hermetic  philosophy  ?  I 
think  proper,  therefore,  to  premise  a  few  words 
on  that  subject,  not  to  explain  it  in  detail,  but  to 
indicate  some  of  its  principal  features. 

I  published  last  year  a  small  volume  of 
Remarks  upon  Alchemy,*  the  object  of  which 
was  to  show  that  the  so-called  Philosopher's 
Stone,  so  much  sought  after  by  the  Alchemists 
of  the  Middle  Ages,  was  a  mere  symbol,  the 
genuine  Alchemists  being  in  fact  Hermetic 
philosophers — a  class  of  men  who  have  never 

*  Remarks  on  Alchemy  and  the  Alchemists,  &c. :  Crosby, 
Nichols  &  Co.  Boston,  1857. 


8  SWEDENBOKG,  [On.  I, 

been  clearly  defined  to  tlie  general  reader, 
owing,  in  great  part,  no  doubt,  to  the  nature  of 
their  studies  and  convictions.  Many  attempts, 
indeed,  have  been  made  to  unveil  them,  and  to 
describe  their  philosophy,  but  without  results, 
so  far  as  I  have  seen ;  the  subject  being  so  remote 
from  the  ordinary  avocations  of  life,  and  because 
also  of  the  common  prepossessions  of  man  in 
respect  to  what  constitutes  the  true  knowledge 
of  God,  and  the  beatitude  of  man. 

In  my  Remarks,  I  did  not  attempt  to  point 
out  precisely  the  nature  of  this  philosophy,  as 
such  an  attempt  would  have  been  the  height  of 
presumption.  That  which  I  chiefly  intended, 
was  simply  to  show  from  Alchemic  books,  some 
of  the  conditions  set  forth  by  the  Alchemists 
themselves,  though  very  mystically  and  obscure- 
ly, as  indispensably  requisite  in  him  who  would 
possess  the  philosopher's  stone. 

A  mere  accident — a  very  casual  circumstance 
— some  three  or  four  years  ago,  threw  into  my 
hands  a  small  volume  on  Alchemy,  the  preface 
to  which  alone  satisfied  me  that  there  must  have 
been  two  classes  of  Alchemists  :  and  the  perusal 
of  the  book  assured  me  that,  while  some  "money- 
loving  sots  "  employed  themselves  in  experiments 
upon  all  sorts  of  metals  and  other  materials  in 


CH.  I.]  A  HERMETIC   PHILOSOPHEE. 

search  of  gold,  there  was  another  class  of  men 
in  pursuit  of  the  philosopher's  stone  by  very- 
different  means : — by  devout  contemplation  upon 
the  nature  of  God  and  of  man — upon  the  human 
soul  and  its  capacity  for  knowledge,  for  happi- 
ness, and  for  immortality ; — and  the  object  was 
a  discovery  of  the  means  for  attaining  the  true 
end  of  man ;  not  an  ephemeral  pleasure,  but  a 
permanent  beatitude — not  a  good  for  a  day,  but 
for  all  time.  The  impression  derived  from  read- 
ing this  one  work  on  alchemy  induced  me  to 
look  further,  and  without  much  effort  I  obtained 
a  considerable  number  of  volumes,  over  three 
hundred,  of  a  strange  character,  on  the  philoso- 
pher's stone  and  hermetic  philosophy ;  some  of 
which  are  of  course  worthless,  but  all  of  which 
show,  beyond  the  possibility  of  doubt,  that  the 
philosopher's  stone  was  a  mere  symbol  for  human 
perfection,  or  for  something  supposed  to  be 
essential  to  that  perfection.  There  is  not  a 
single  volume  in  my  possession  that  could  have 
been  written  by  any  one  in  pursuit  of  actual 
gold,  though  many  of  the  works  show  that  their 
authors  had  but  very  crude  opinions  as  to  the 
real  object  of  the  philosophers. 

It  is  not  my  purpose  now  to  comment  at 
length  upon  this  subject.     Referring  the  reader 
1* 


10  SWEDENBORG,  [Cn.  I. 

to  my  Itvma/rks,  I  will  simply  say,  that  after 
much  study,  I  came  to  the  opinion  that,  while 
MAN  was  the  subject  of  alchemy,  and  his  per- 
fection was  the  object  of  the  art,  that  object 
required  for  its  attainment  certain  means,  which 
were,  however,  as  carefully  wrapped  up  in  sym- 
bolism as  the  end  itself.  At  length,  I  became 
convinced  that  those  means  were  as  clearly  stated 
in  Scripture  as  the  use  of  human  language  will 
allow.  In  short,  all  of  my  studies  drew  my  at- 
tention to  the  declaration  of  the  Lord  in  the 
Sermon  on  the  Mount ; — "  Blessed  are  the  pure 
in  heart,  for  they  shall  see  God :  " — for  it  appeared 
very  clear  that  the  philosophers  had  in  some  way 
connected  the  perfection  of  man  with  a  knowl- 
edge of  God,  the  former  leading  to  the  latter, 
yet  the  latter  being  as  a  sign  of  the  former.  But 
this  knowledge  of  God  was  not  a  mere  outward 
belief  in  the  existence  of  a  great  but  undefined 
power  over  nature,  which  even  the  most  ignorant 
savages  acknowledge,  but  an  inward  experience 
or  spiritual  sight,  by  which  the  subject  of  the 
experience  was  brought  into  some  sort  of  com- 
munion with  the  Spirit  of  God,  so  as  to  realize 
the  knowledge  as  a  possession. 

"When  the  object  was  thus  far  recognized,  as 
I  considered,  my  attention  was  gradually  carried 


CH.  I.]  A   HERMETIC   PHILOSOPHEB.  11 

upon  the  means  of  attaining  it,  as  obscurely  in- 
dicated by  these  writers,  and  I  could  not  fail  to 
see  them  chiefly  in  the  text  just  recited. 

I  found  in  alchemic  and  hermetic  books  one 
pervading  doctrine,  common  to  all  of  them, 
though  expressed  very  obscurely;  and  it  was 
this — that,  while  every  writer  made  use  of  a 
word  of  his  own  choosing  to  designate  the  un- 
described  matter  of  which  the  philosopher's 
stone  was  to  be  made,  they  all  prescribed  as  a 
first  step  in  the  work  of  making  the  stone,  a  pro- 
cess of  purification.  Whatever  other  directions 
are  given,  they  all  tell  us  to  wash  the  matter,  to 
purify  the  matter,  &c.,  and  they  have  much  to 
say  of  what  they  call  the  philosopher's  soap,  the 
soap  of  the  wise,  or  the  vinegar  of  the  wise,  &c. 

After  comparing  many  books  together,  and 
weighing  carefully  the  circumstances  obscurely 
hinted  at,  I  became  convinced  that  the  matter 
of  the  philosophers  was  man,  and  that  the  soap 
referred  to,  the  vinegar,  the  oil,  &c.,  was  no 
other  than  the  conscience;  but  the  conscience, 
acting  freely  and  not  under  external  and  violent 
influences.  While  the  conscience  is  one  thing 
itself,  it  takes  a  great  variety  of  names  according 
to  the  condition  of  the  subject  upon  which  or  in 
which  it  acts.  To  one  it  is  a  messenger  of  peace 


12  SWEDENBOKG,  [On.  I. 

and  of  joy  inexpressible,  while  to  another  it 
whispers  woe  unutterable,  and  pours  out  vials 
of  wrath  upon  the  terrified  and  doomed  soul ; 
and  this  it  does,  independently  of  the  power  of 
man,  who  has  no  control  whatever  over  this  all- 
pervading  and  ubiquitous  spirit.  This  is  the 
spirit  that  is  "  in  the  midst "  when  two  or  three 
are  gathered  together  in  the  name  of  God,  and 
which  can  neither  be  kept  out  nor  in,  by  "  shut 
doors  "  ever  so  strongly  bolted. 

At  first,  indeed,  it  seemed  a  very  simple  thing, 
altogether  insufficient,  as  a  basis,  for  so  many 
books  and  for  such  results  as  appeared  to  be 
claimed  for  it ;  but  I  observed  that  the  philoso- 
phers, as  they  call  each  other,  speak  of  their  art 
as  both  simple  and  difficult : — like  all  other  arts 
perhaps,  easy  to  those  who  are  skilled  in  their 
practice,  but  difficult  to  the  uninstructed ;  or  like 
the  yoke  of  Christ,  easy  in  one  sense,  to  the  will- 
ing and  obedient, — but  a  fearful  labor  to  the  selfish 
and  the  obdurate. 

Be  this  as  it  may,  I  kept  my  attention  upon 
it,  and,  continuing  to  read  Hermetic  books,  I 
found  that  the  unenforced  and  natural  office  of 
the  conscience  served  as  a  key  for  the  explana- 
tion of  many  otherwise  inexplicable  passages  in 
Hermetic  writings ;  and  I  finally  rested  in  the 


CH.  I.]  A  HERMETIC  PHILOSOPHER.  13 

conviction,  that  whatever  the  truth  might  be  in 
itself,  the  Hermetic  writers  intended  to  indicate 
that  a  pure  heart,  or  what  the  Psalmist  calls  a 
"  right  spirit,"  is  the  way  to  the  philosopher's 
stone,  if  it  is  not  the  stone  itself, — the  pearl  of 
great  price  ;  for  this  pearl  is  not  a  mere  hope,  no, 
not  even  the  hope  of  heaven,  but  it  is  heaven 
itself. 

I  had  long  seen,  as  I  thought,  that  the  knowl- 
edge of  God  is  essential  to  the  peace  of  man,  and 
that  this  knowledge  must  be  something  different, 
as  1  have  said,  from  the  mere  recognition  of  an 
unknown  powerful  being  over  nature,  which  "  the 
strong  seeks  to  conquer,  and  the  weak  to  avoid ; " 
and  seeing,  as  I  thought  I  did,  that  the  object  of 
the  Hermetic  philosophers  was  the  perfection  of 
man,  and  that  this  perfection  was  to  be  found  in 
some  knowledge  of  God  in  a  peculiar  sense,  and 
that  the  way  to  this  knowledge  lay  through  the 
purification  of  the  heart,  I  was  carried,  I  say,  to 
the  text  of  Scripture  just  recited,  yet  in  such  a 
manner  as  to  see  the  operation  in  something  like 
a  circle  ;  for  it  appeared  that  while  the  pure  in 
heart  are  said  to  see  God,  this  condition  itself  is 
not  attained  but  by  the  agency  or  power  of  the 
Spirit  of  God.  This  "  circular  "  operation  is  es- 
pecially referred  to  by  the  alchemist,  or  Hermetic 


14  SWEDENBOKG,  [CH.  I. 

philosopher,  Artephias,  as  stated,  page  90  of  my 
Remarks.  It  is,  as  I  consider,  the  very  same 
point  in  philosophy  which  is  so  much  insisted 
upon  in  religion,  where  we  are  told  that,  while 
faith  is  essential  to  salvation,  it  is  not  attainable 
by  the  "  natural  man,"  unassisted  by  the  grace 
of  God.  There  is  much  injudicious  preaching  on 
this  subject,  however  well  intended,  by  which 
many  honest  minds  are  greatly  perplexed  and 
severely  tried  without  benefit;  and,  still  worse, 
many  hasty  and  bold  wits  are  driven  to  take 
refuge  in  a  sort  of  logical  infidelity,  out  of  which 
it  is  extremely  difficult  to  extricate  themselves. 

I  will  not  now  dwell  upon  this  point  further 
than  to  say,  that  the  difference  between  the  desire 
of  happiness  and  the  desire  of  being  worthy  of 
happiness,  or  the  difference  between  the  love  of 
God's  blessings  and  the  love  of  God,  &c.,  may 
show  the  difference  between  the  conditions  of 
different  men,  so  as  to  indicate  who  may  and  who 
may  not  feel  that  they  are  tending  to  that  state 
to  which  the  Lord  referred  in  the  text  I  have  re- 
cited. 

If  now  I  should  say  that  the  blessing  and  the 
condition  necessary  for  its  attainment,  were  be- 
lieved to  be  the  gifts  of  God,  not  attainable  by 
the  unassisted  efforts  of  man,  without  urging 


CH.  I.]  A  HERMETIC  PHILOSOPHER.  15 

metaphysical  reasons  for  it,  I  should  undoubtedly 
state  one  of  the  reasons  why  a  certain  class  of 
men,  appearing  in  all  ages,  have  drawn  a  veil 
over  what  they  have  to  say  on  this  subject.  They 
have  felt  that  all  the  instruction  man  is  able  to 
give  to  man,  on  the  subject  of  God  and  of  God's 
blessings,  must  terminate  in  referring  man  to 
God,  as  the  author  and  finisher  of  a  faith  which 
is  said  to  partake  of  his  very  nature. 

In  popular  estimation  religion  and  philosophy 
seem  to  stand  opposed  to  each  other ;  but  this 
results  chiefly  from  regarding  the  forms  and  cere- 
monies of  religion  as  its  substance,  on  the  one 
side,  and  considering  mere  learning,  or  memory 
knowledge,  as  philosophy  on  the  other.  But  if 
philosophy  be  defined  as  wisdom,  and  philoso- 
phers be  regarded  as  lovers  of  wisdom,  we  may 
see  a  channel  through  which  the  philosopher  may 
come  into  harmony  with  one  in  whom  religion  is 
not  a  ceremony  but  a  sentiment.  But  this  is  not 
the  place  for  an  essay  on  this  subject. 

In  my  volume  of  Remarks  upon  alchemy  I 
undertook  to  show,  by  citations  from  the  writings 
of  alchemists  and  Hermetic  philosophers,  as  I 
have  already  said,  that  the  wibject  of  the  Hermetic 
art  is  MAN,  and  that  the  object  of  the  art  is  the 
perfection  of  man.  I  demonstrated  that  the  Her- 


16  SWEDENBOKG,  [Cn.  I. 

metic  writers  communicated  with  each  other  by 
means  of  a  conventional  language,  writing  of 
salt,  sulphur,  and  mercury  ;  of  Mercury,  Sol,  and 
Luna,  &c.,  &c.,  through  an  endless  variety  of 
expressions,  instead  of  man,  or  of  body,  soul,  and 
spirit ;  and  that  by  the  transmutation  of  metals, 
the  genuine  alchemists  meant  the  transformation 
of  man  from  a  state  of  nature  to  a  state  of  grace. 
I  made  it  appear,  by  abundant  extracts  with  easy 
interpretations,  that  the  Hermetic  writers  had,  in 
fact,  but  one  subject ;  and  that  it  was,  or  shall  I 
say  it  is,  MAN, — including  his  relation  to  nature 
on  the  one  side,  and  to  God  on  the  other,  an  in- 
separable trinity : — that,  though  their  science  or 
art  is  obscure  in  itself,  and  is  disclosed,  or  rather 
hidden,  in  exceedingly  dark,  metaphorical,  and 
figurative  language,  they  nevertheless  all  treat  of 
MAN  ; — of  his  mind  as  a  spirit,  and  of  his  body  as 
an  earth ; — that  they  used  a  multitude  of  expres- 
sions, seemingly  pointing  to  other  things,  espe- 
cially to  chemistry,  but  in  reality  explicable  by 
a  due  knowledge  of  man,  as  the  image  of  God, 
and  the  central  and  most  important  being  of 
God's  creation. 

I  endeavored  to  point  out  some  of  the  reasons 
why  those  writers  concealed  themselves  from 
general  observation  by  their  enigmatic  modes  of 


CH.  I.]  A  HERMETIC  PHILOSOPHER.  17 

writing,  of  which  there  were  many,  and  expressed 
the  opinion  that  no  reason  now  exists  for  not 
making  them  known  in  their  true  character, — 
that  of  religious  philosophers  ;  somewhat,  it  may 
perhaps  be  justly  thought,  too  much  given  to 
mysticism,  especially  if  measured  by  what  are 
called  the  practical  tendencies  of  our  age. 

I  admitted  that  there  were  pretenders  to  the 
Hermetic  art,  who  brought  disrepute  upon  the 
art  itself,  by  practising  their  impostures  upon  the 
simple,  easily  deceived,  and  upon  the  avaricious, 
whose  cupidity  drew  them  to  a  study,  the  first 
principle  of  which  excludes  every  thing  selfish, 
base,  and  mean. 

I  also  admitted  that  many,  with  no  evil  de- 
sign, assumed  the  garb  or  outward  dress  of  the 
Hermetic  writers,  who  were  not  masters  of  the 
art,  and  that  these  also  contributed  to  bring  the 
proper  subject  or  object  of  the  writers  into  disre- 
pute, by  attempting  to  carry  a  purely  moral  de- 
sign into  the  field  of  physical  science,  vainly  striv- 
ing to  make  the  Hermetic  key  supply  the  absence 
of  patience  and  study  in  the  pursuit  of  the  natural 
sciences,  into  which  no  short  road  of  entrance  is 
likely  ever  to  be  discovered,  so  as  to  dispense 
with  the  necessity  of  industry  and  continuous  ap- 
plication. 


18  SWEDENBOKG,  [Cfl.  I. 

I  pointed  to  the  conscience  as  the  true  natural 
instrument,  provided  by  God,  for  a  healthy  reno- 
vation of  man,  to  the  exclusion  of  the  passions, 
especially  the  degrading  passion  of  fear,  which 
ought  only  to  be  used  when  gentle  means  fail, — 
as  we  read  that  stones  were  resorted  to  when 
tufts  of  grass  failed  to  bring  the  "  rude  boy  " 
from  the  forbidden  fruit. 

In  admitting,  as  I  did,  that  mistakes  were 
made  by  some  who  imagined  themselves  in  pos- 
session of  the  Hermetic  secret,  my  mind  did  not 
fully  and  clearly  rest,  at  the  moment,  upon 
Emanuel  Swedenborg,  a  man  of  immense  learn- 
ing and  unexceptionable  personal  character,  who 
has  risen  in  this  age  to  be  the  head  of  a  consider- 
able body  of  Christians  who  believe  that  the 
New  Jerusalem  has  recently  descended  upon 
earth,  or  is  about  to  come  down  from  heaven  to 
bless  the  world. 

As  I  desire  to  guard  against  being  misunder- 
stood on  a  subject  which  I  am  sure  is  important, 
and  wish  above  all  things  not  to  mislead  any  one, 
I  must  explain  that,  by  referring  to  the  conscience 
as  the  natural  instrument  of  the  purification  of 
man,  I  do  not  mean  to  be  understood  as  saying 
that  this  is  the  peculiar  secret  of  hermetic  phi- 
losophy ;  but  that  it  is  the  way  to  it.  The  secret 


GH.  I.]  A   HERMETIC   PHILOSOPHER.  19 

itself,  we  are  told,  has  never  been  discovered, 
and  never  will  be  discovered  by  any  one  until, 
by  a  suitable  moral  and  spiritual  discipline,  the 
seeker  shall  feel  in  a  condition  to  stand  un- 
abashed in  the  presence  of  God  under  the  simple 
but  momentous  text  of  Scripture,  "  Blessed  are 
the  pure  in  heart,  for  they  shall  see  God ; " — not 
that  the  wicked  do  not  see  God  also,  but  they 
see  him  as  another  personage. 

I  suppose  I  must  attribute  the  opinion  I  have 
recently  adopted  with  respect  to  Swedenborg,  in 
part,  at  least,  to  a  habit  of  looking  beyond  the 
letter,  in  the  interpretation  of  obscure  and  mysti- 
cal writings,  acquired  or  practised  in  the  prepara- 
tion of  my  Remarks  on  Alchemy  and  the  Alche- 
mists. Whatever  the  cause  may  have  been,  I 
was  surprised,  a  few  weeks  since,  on  looking  into 
Swedenborg's  Heavenly  Arcana,  at  being  re- 
minded of  the  use  made  by  many  of  the  hermetic 
philosophers  (the  alchemists  of  the  middle  ages) 
of  the  first  verses  of  Genesis,  and  I  was  there- 
upon induced  to  look  a  little  further  into  the 
resemblances  to  be  found  between  the  writings 
of  Swedenborg  and  those  of  the  hermetic  philoso- 
phers. The  result  has  been — without  denying 
the  genius  and  knowledge  of  Swedenborg — a 
decided  opinion  that  he  was  a  follower  of  the 


20  SWEDENBORG,  [On.  I. 

hermetic  class  of  writers,  and  that  his  writings 
are  to  be  judged  and  interpreted  from  the  stand- 
point of  hermetic  philosophy,  however  difficult 
it  may  be  to  acquire  the  right  position  for  that 
purpose ;  for  it  is  no  easy  matter. 

A  mere  isolated  coincidence  of  expression  or 
thought  on  a  particular  point,  between  the  writ- 
ings of  Swedenborg  and  those  of  the  alchemists, 
would  be  of  little  or  no  importance ;  but  if  it 
shall  appear  that,  besides  many  remarkable  points 
of  identity  between  Swedenborg  and  the  mystic 
class  of  writers  to  which  I  refer,  the  principle  of 
interpretation  employed  by  Swedenborg  upon 
the  first  books  of  Moses,  and  especially  upon  the 
first  verses  of  Genesis,  can  be  substantially  point- 
ed out  in  the  writings  of  the  alchemists,  though 
not  applied  precisely  as  Swedenborg  applied  it, 
it  cannot  fail  to  surprise  many,  and  must  be  of 
importance  in  estimating  the  claims  of  Sweden- 
borg to  special  illumination, — whether  those 
claims  be  made  by  himself,  or  by  his  admirers  or 
followers  in  his  behalf. 

If  there  was  a  hermetic  secret,  or  something 

'  O 

passing  under  that  name,  as  the  philosopher's 
stone,  for  example,  and  no  one  doubts  this,  it  is 
exceedingly  improbable,  that  the  secret  should 
not,  in  some  form  or  other,  come  to  the  surface. 


CH.  I.]  A  HERMETIC   PHILOSOPHER.  21 

That  it  did  exhibit  itself  in  many  forms  during 
the  middle  ages,  and  even  very  lately,  can  be 
easily  shown ;  so  that  there  is  no  natural  pre- 
sumption against  the  position  I  take,  that  Sweden- 
borg's  mystical  writings  are  modelled  after  those 
of  the  hermetic  writers,  and  may  be  interpreted 
from  the  standpoint  of  hermetic  philosophy  ;  and 
this,  too,  without  assuming  that  Swedenborg  was 
what  was  called  an  adept  in  the  fullest  sense. 
According  to  my  understanding  of  hermetic 
books,  the  true  secret  of  the  hermetic  art  cannot 
be  written — it-,  can  only  be  written  about ;  and 
the  attempt  to  write  about  it  directly,  is  a  very 
sure  method  of  losing  one's  self  in  a  cloud  of 
words  conveying  to  the  judicious  no  genuine  in- 
struction. It  amounts  to  this,  and  I  say  it  with 
all  possible  reverence,  that  when  God  speaks  in 
man,  the  man  (in  man)  must  be  silent ;  and  not 
only  this,  the  man  must  be  silent  that  God  may 
speak, — which  we  may  suppose  the  true  ground 
of  the  much  talked  of  Pythagorean  silence. 

We  have  an  immense  field  of  natural  inquiry 
open  before  us,  in  which  all  of  our  natural  facul- 
ties may  be  employed  usefully,  both  in  learning 
and  in  teaching ;  but  it  is  said  that  there  is  one 
subject  which  God  reserves  to  himself,  and 
teaches  only  to  a  "  select  few  of  the  simple  and 


22  SWEDENBOKG,  [On.  I. 

true,"  who  may  not  at  all  be  acquainted  with  the 
sciences  commonly  so  called  ;  not  that  ignorance 
of  any  kind  can  be  an  advantage  to  us,  but  that 
no  kind  of  natural  science  or  knowledge  can 
supersede  the  conditions  necessary  for  the  at- 
tainment of  what  is  called  the  knowledge  of  God. 
It  may  be  said  that  there  is  no  mystery  or  secret 
in  this ;  that  every  one  admits  it ;  yet  the  more 
considerate  may  see  in  it  the  very  mystery  of 
godliness,  the  profoundest  secret  of  life, — the 
secret  about  which  the  hermetic  writers  employed 
themselves,  and  in  view  of  which,  as  I  intend  to 
show,  Swedenborg  wrote  his  mystical  books, 
dropping  the  terms  of  salt,  sulphur,  and  mercury , 
in  favor  of  ens,  cause,  and  effect,  yet  substantially 
writing  in  the  vein  of  the  hermetic  art,  treating 
of  man  as  a  spirit ;  or,  as  man  on  the  one  side  a 
spirit,  and  on  the  other  an  earth  ;  of  man  as,  by 
nature,  an  "inchoate"  production,  tending  to 
perfection,  but  needing  the  help  of  a  divine  art 
to  advance  him  thereto. 

We  have  now  a  large  class  of  Christians, 
generally,  as  I  believe,  of  more  than  ordinary  in- 
telligence, and,  as  I  also  think,  usually  distin- 
guished for  gentleness  and  amiability,  who  are 
known  as  Swedenborgians,  though  I  believe  they 
prefer  to  be  called  members  of  the  New  Church, 


CH.  I.]  A  HERMETIC   PHILOSOPHER.  23 

or  members  of  the  New- Jerusalem  Church.  They 
have  grown  in  numbers  and  importance  very 
gradually;  unlike  many  sects,  in  this  respect, 
that  have  sprung  into  being  from  the  local 
preaching  of  some  enthusiastic  fanatic,  whose 
appeals  to  the  passions  have  overborne  the  rea- 
son, and  through  the  imagination  and  the  feel- 
ings, have  effected  organizations  of  great  extent, 
and  even  considerable  duration.  Swedenborg 
was  not  a  preacher,  nor  do  we  know  historically 
that  he  was  an  oral  teacher  to  any  great  extent. 
He  was  a  writer,  and  a  very  voluminous  one. 
In  his  early  years  he  was  employed  in  practical 
life,  and  in  the  acquisition  of  knowledge,  espe- 
cially scientific  knowledge,  and  was,  without 
doubt,  one  of  the  most  learned  men  of  his 
age. 

Swedenborg  was  born  at  Upsal,  or,  as  some 
accounts  say,  at  Stockholm,  in  1688,  and  died  at 
London,  at  the  age  of  84=,  or  85 — for  there  is  a 
question  as  to  the  precise  year  of  his  birth. 
Somewhere  near  the  middle  period  of  his  life 
his  thoughts  and  labors  took  a  decidedly  reli- 
gious turn.  In  referring  to  the  occasion  of  it,  he 
speaks  of  the  opening  of  his  internal  sight,  as  if 
something  like  a  supernatural  influence  had  been 
exerted  upon  him,  which  he  attributed  to  the 


24  SWEDENBOKO,  [On.  I. 

LOKD,  a  name  of  vast  importance  in  Sweden- 
borg's  writings. 

After  the  opening  of  his  internal  sight,  as 
Swedenborg  called  it,  he  wrote  almost  exclusive- 
ly upon  the  subject  of  religion,  and  left  behind 
him  a  library  of  volumes  of  his  own  works,  con- 
taining his  opinions  upon  religion,  and  his  inter- 
pretations of  Scripture — not  according  to  the 
letter,  but  according  to  the  spirit,  that  is,  accord- 
ing to  his  own  spirit,  as  many  may  say ;  or,  as  some 
believe,  according  to  the  teaching  of  the  Lord,  by 
means  of  the  opening  of  his  internal  sight. 

The  sect  of  Swedenborgians,  as  I  will  call 
them,  has  grown  up,  as  I  have  said,  gradually  ; 
and  the  members  are  generally  well-informed 
and  sincere ;  for  the  most  part,  reading  and 
thinking  people ;  as,  indeed,  they  are  measur- 
ably obliged  to  be,  because  the  doctrines  of  the 
sect,  next  to  the  Scriptures,  are  to  be  found  in 
books  written  with  a  vast  deal  of  thought,  and 
without  the  slightest  appeal  to  the  passions. 

Among  the  many  works  left  us  by  Sweden- 
borg, throughout  which  his  principles  are  scatter- 
ed without  much  order,  and  repeated  in  every 
variety  of  form,  it  is  difficult  to  name  any  one 
in  particular  in  which  his  doctrines  are  comprised 
as  a  whole  ;  but  I  should  refer  to  the  work  en- 


CH.  I.]  A   HERMETIC   PHILOSOPHER.  25 

titled  Angelic  Wisdom  conceiving  Divine  Love 
and  Divine  Wisdom,  as  likely  to  give  a  student 
an  insight  into  his  most  abstruse  principles. 

His  work  concerning  Heaven  and  Hell, 
k'  from  things  heard  and  seen,"  is  perhaps  the 
most  characteristic  application  of  the  doctrines. 

As  a  systematic  last  thought,  perhaps  his 
work  entitled  the  True  Christian  Religion  might 
be  first  read  with  advantage,  by  one  desiring  a 
general  understanding  of  Swedenborg's  opinions. 
It  was  the  last,  or  one  of  the  last  works  he  pub- 
lished. 


26  SWEDENBOKG,  OH.  II.] 


CHAPTER    II. 

I  OUGHT  in  candor  to  express  my  opinion  that 
there  is  an  underlying  principle  throughout  Swe- 
denborg's  writings,  which  a  mere  reading  of  his 
works  will  hardly  give. 

I  would  indicate  the  direction  in  which  it  is 
to  be  sought,  in  some  degree,  by  desiring  his 
reader  to  consider  that  Swedenborg,  in  his  inter- 
pretation of  Scripture,  professes  to  have  looked 
beyond  the  letter  to  the  Spirit  by  which  the  letter 
was  dictated.  He,  of  all  men,  appropriated  and 
applied  the  declaration  of  St.  Paul,  or  at  least  the 
first  part  of  it,  that  the  letter  killeth,  but  the 
Spirit  giveth  life ;  and  the  reader  of  Swedenborg's 
interpretations  must  not  suppose  that  he  is  ex- 
empt from  that  necessity  which  lay  upon  Swe- 
denborg himself,  of  finding  the  Spirit  of  Truth, 
as  essential  in  the  comprehension  of  mystical  and 
symbolical  writings. 

We  too  must  use  the  Spirit ;  and  surely  it  is 
an  undeniable  right  to  mete  out  to  Swedenborg 


CH.  II.]  A    HEEMETIC   PHILOSOPHER.  27 

the  measure  he  applied  to  others.  He  would 
have  us  do  so,  if  I  understand  his  writings  ;  and 
his  friends  must  not  deny  us  a  license  in  reading 
his  works,  which  he  dared  to  take  with  the  Holy 
Scriptures.  But  by  what  spirit  shall  he  be 
judged  ?  Here  lies  the  only  difficulty  in  the 
case. 

This  difficulty  will  be  measurably  overcome, 
when  the  student  receives  into  his  mind  the  idea 
which,  in  Swedenborg's  mind,  bore  the  name  of 
the  Lord;  for  words  are  the  names  of  ideas  and 
images  in  the  mind,  and  can  only  be  intelligibly 
used  when  apprehended  with  precision  for  the 
ideas  and  images  they  express.  To  what  purpose 
can  any  one  speak  of  the  Z,ord,  and  yet  have  in 
his  mind  no  idea  represented  by  that  word  ?  or 
how  can  any  one  read  of  the  Lord,  and  under- 
stand what  he  reads,  without  having  in  his  mind 
the  idea  expressed  by  that  word  ?  We  see  the 
importance  of  this  principle  in  mathematics  and 
in  other  subjects,  and  why  not  in  theology?  The 
mathematician  affirms  the  principles  of  a  triangle 
with  the  idea  of  a  triangle  in  his  mind,  and  not 
the  idea  of  a  circle  ;  and  the  student  of  mathe- 
matics apprehends  the  properties  of  a  triangle 
with  the  idea  of  a  triangle  in  his  mind,  and  not 
the  idea  of  a  circle. 


28  SWEDENBORG,  [On.  II. 

With  Swedenborg,  the  reception  of  the  idea 

-rAvy 

of  the  Ee«»  was  the  opening  of  his  internal  sight. 

That  idea  working  in  the  mind  of  Swedenborg 
produced  or  educed  that  spirit,  or  was  the  seal  to 
it,  which  represented  the  spirit  of  truth,  and  which 
became  for  him  the  measure  by  which  he  judged 
of  all  things.  It  gave  him  what  was  to  him  a 
knowledge  of  the  substance  of  all  things,  or  in 
other  words  the  knowledge  of  God. 

It  might  be  expected  from  any  one  proposing 
to  give  any  account  of  Swedenborg,  that  some 
effort  would  be  made  to  explain  the  sense  in 
which  he  understood  the  expression,  the  LORD,  so 
freely  used  in  his  writings ;  but  it  is  extremely 
difficult  to  do  so. 

I  advertise  the  reader  that  this  word,  the 
LOKD,  or  Swedenborg's  understanding  of  it,  is  the 
key-note  to  his  whole  philosophy, — so  far  as  one 
word  can  express  it. 

It  is  not  enough  to  say,  popularly,  that  by 
this  word  he  meant  Jesus  Christ ;  for  although 
he  so  used  the  word  as  to  be  applicable  to  the 
Son  of  God,  he  understood  it  in  a  sense  not  often 
met  with  in  the  ordinary  preaching  of  the  day ; — 
nor  is  it  sufficient  to  refer  to  the  WORD,  as  used 
by  St.  John,  for  the  same  reason  ; — nor  do  we 


CH.  II.]  A  HEEMETIC   PHILOSOPHER.  29 

reach  a  complete  idea  of  it  by  a  mere  verbal 
declaration  that  he  meant  the  second*  person  of 
the  Trinity  ; — neither  do  we  learn  his  meaning 
by  saying  that  by  the  LOKD  Swedenborg  meant 
the  Divine-human,  the  God-man. 

We  might  as  well  at  once,  yea  better  adopt 
his  own  expressions,  and  study  the  meaning 
through  the  synonyms  he  uses  and  the  application 
he  makes  of  them. 

"We  should  bear  in  mind,  however,  that  the 
truth  precedes  the  expression  of  it,  and  must 
underlie  and  interpret  it,  while  the  expression,  at 
the  same  time,  should  carry  us  to  the  truth  ex- 
pressed. 

He  says,  then,  that  the  Lord  is  [a]  man ;  also, 
that  the  Lord  is  God,  and  that  the  Lord  is  Life, 
the  Life  of  all  things. 

The  student  will  hardly  see  this  as  Sweden- 
borg seems  to  have  done,  until  he  sees  in  the  idea 
of  the  Lord,  that  is,  of  Life,  the  death  of  death ; 
for  death,  in  Swedenborg's  sense,  is  not  the  end 
of  life,  but  an  event  in  life :  man  being,  in  the 
Lord,  not  in  himself,  ever-living. 

It  will  be  difficult  to  find  in  Swedenborg's 
writings  any  elucidation  of  the  opening  words  of 
John  : — In  the  beginning  was  the  Word,  and  the 
Word  was  with  God,  and  the  Word  was  God. 


30  SWEDENBORG,  [Oil.  II. 

The  same  was  in  the  beginning  with  God.  All 
things  were  made  by  Him,  and  without  Him  was 
not  any  thing  made  that  was  made. 

And  the  Word  was  made  flesh. 

How  did  Swedenborg  understand  this  im- 
portant doctrine?  Are  we  to  suppose  that  he 
looked  first  to  God  and  then  to  the  "Word  as  the 
Lord  ?  or  did  he  look  to  the  Lord  and  then  to 
God?  Did  he  look  to  the  Lord  and  then  to 
man ;  and  then  by  a  reflex  idea,  return  from  man 
to  the  Lord,  and  thence  to  God,  with  the  amazing 
inference  that  God  is  a  man,  or  dropping  the 
article — that,  God  is  man  ? 

Can  we  consider  that  man  is  the  nearest  being 
to  man,  and  thence  the  starting-point  of  study  ? 
Can  we  say  that  man  is  a  natural  being,  and  then 
invert  the  terms,  and  say  that  he  is  a  being  of 
nature  ;  and  finally,  under  the  notion  that  every 
particular  expresses  the  universal,  can  we  pro- 
ceed further  and  say  that  man,  not  as  an  individ- 
ual, but  as  a  universal,  is  the  being  of  nature ; 
and  then,  can  we  say,  that  life  is  the  being  of 
nature,  and  that  life  is  the  Lord,  and  the  Lord  is 
God,  and,  thence,  that  God  is  man  ? 

Can  we  say  that  man  is  an  intellectual  being, 
and  thence,  by  a  similar  process,  affirm  that  man, 
not  individually  but  universally,  is  the  being  of 


CH.  IL]  A   HERMETIC   PHILOSOPHER.  31 

intellect  or  of  intelligence ;  and  thus  posit  intelli- 
gence in  the  Lord  as  a  spiritual  world  of  which 
the  Lord  is  God,  and  so  again  affirm  that  God  is 
man? 

Or  yet  further,  can  we  say  that  man  is  a 
spiritual  being,  or  individually  a  being  of  spirit ; 
and,  universally,  the  being  of  spirit ;  and  then 
say  that  the  spirit  is  life,  that  life  is  the  Lord,  and 
the  Lord  is  God,  and  thus  again  reiterate  that 
God  is  man  ? 

Or,  can  we  say  that  man  is  a  living  being,  a 
being  of  Life,  living  not  in  himself  but  in  the 
Lord  and  thence  in  God,  and  that,  as  the  image 
declares  the  pattern,  therefore  God  is  [a]  man  ? 

Can  we  say  that  man  is  a  being  in  existence, 
individually,  and  that  universally  he  is  the  Being 
of  existence ;  or,  in  other  words,  that  he  is  the 
substance  of  all  things ;  and,  when  regarded  in 
God,  the  self-existent  substance ;  and  that  God  is 
the  Lord,  and  the  Lord  is  Life,  the  Life  of  man, 
who  is  nothing  of  himself ;  and  thus,  do  we  touch 
the  essence  of  the  doctrine,  that  man  must  deny 
himself  individually  to  live  universally,  that  is, 
before  he  can  realize  in  himself  the  life  of  God : 
and  can  this  doctrine  be  so  presented  to  man  as 
that  he  may  attain  to  it  through  his  rational 
nature,  or  must  he  receive  it,  if  he  receives  it  at 


32  SWEDENBOEG,  [Cn.  II. 

all,  as  the  gift  of  God,  the  gift  of  the  Lord,  the 
gift  of  Life,  the  Life  of  God  in  the  soul ;  and  does 
this  reception  constitute  what  is  called  regenera- 
tion,— and  does  it  cany  with  it  the  idea  or 
sense  of  a  secret  inaccessible  to  the  natural 
man? 

Can  it  assist  us  in  seeing  into  this  important 
subject,  to  consider  a  few  texts  of  Scripture 
where  the  truth  lies  hid  in  the  letter  ? 

The  WORD  which  was  with  God  and  was  God, 
was  made  flesh,  and  was  seen  of  men.  The 
WOKD  spake  and  said,  I  and  my  Father  are  one. 

And  the  WOKD  prayed :  "  Sanctify  them, 
through  thy  truth  :  Thy  WORD  is  truth." 

And  the  WORD  prayed :  "  That  they  all  may 
be  one  ;  as  thou,  Father,  art  in  me,  and  I  in 
thee,  that  they  also  may  be  one  in  us  :  that  the 
world  may  believe  that  thou  hast  sent  me." 

"  And  the  glory  which  thou  gavest  me  have 
I  given  them;  that  they  may  be  one,  even  as  we 
are  one : " 

"I  in  them,  and  thou  in  me,  that  they  may 
be  made  perfect  in  one ;  and  that  the  world  may 
know  that  thou  hast  sent  me,  and  hast  loved 
them,  as  thou  hast  loved  inc." 

"  And  the  Word  said :  "  It  is  expedient  for 
you  that  I  go  away :  for  if  I  go  not  away,  the 


CH.  II.]  A   HERMETIC   PHILOSOPHER.  33 

Comforter  will  not  come  unto  you ;  but  if  I  de- 
part, I  will  send  him  unto  you." 

"  But  when  the  Comforter  is  come,  whom  I 
will  send  unto  you  from  the  Father,  even  the 
Spirit  of  Truth,  which  proceedeth  from  the 
Father,  he  shall  testify  of  me." 

"  Howbeit,  when  the  Spirit  of  Truth  is  come, 
he  will  guide  you  into  all  truth." 

And  St.  Paul  says:  "I  am  crucified  with 
Christ :  nevertheless  I  live ;  yet  not  I,  but  Christ 
liveth  in  me." 

From  these  few  texts  I  will,  with  the  leave 
of  the  reader,  make  a  transition  to  an  alchemic 
work  by  an  Arabian,  Alipili.  "I  admonish 
thee,  whosoever  thou  art,  that  desirest  to  dive 
into  the  inmost  parts  of  nature,  if  that  thou  seek- 
est  thou  findest  not  within  thee,  thou  wilt  never 
find  it  without  thee.  If  thou  knowest  not  the 
excellency  of  thine  own  house,  why  dost  thou 
seek  and  search  after  the  excellency  of  other 
things  ?  The  universal  orb  of  the  world  contains 
not  so  great  mysteries  and  excellencies  as  a  little 
man,  farmed  by  God  to  his  own  image.  And  he 
who  desires  the  primacy  amongst  the  students  of 
nature,  will  nowhere  find  a  greater  or  better  field 
of  study  than  himself.  Therefore  will  I  follow 
the  example  of  the  Egyptians,  and  from  my 


34r  8WEDENBORO,  [On.  II. 

whole  heart,  and  certain  true  experience  proved 
by  me,  speak  to  my  neighbor  in  the  words  of  the 
Egyptians,  and  with  a  loud  voice  do  now  pro- 
claim :  O  MAN,  KNOW  THYSELF  ;  in  thee  is  hid  the 
treasure  of  treasures" 

What  is  this  treasure?  Perhaps  it  is  the 
knowledge  of  the  WORD  ;  the  knowledge  of  the 
Lord ;  the  knowledge  of  God ;  and  its  possessor 
may  possibly  be  able  to  say  with  St.  Paul, — 
"  Henceforth  know  we  no  man  after  the  flesh :  yea, 
though  we  have  known  Christ  after  the  flesh,  yet 
now  henceforth  know  we  him  no  more." 

It  may  possibly  assist  the  reader  to  form  some 
idea  of  Swedenborg's  understanding  of  the  ex- 
pression the  Lord,  as  life,  and  as  one  thing,  to 
read  an  extract  from  the  alchemic  tract,  De 
Manna  Benedicto,  to  wit : 

"  My  intent  is,  for  certain  reasons,  not  to  prate 
too  much  of  the  matter,  which  yet  is  but  one 
only  thing,  already  too  plainly  described ;  nor 
of  the  preparation,  which  is  the  second  and 
greatest  secret :  But  I  have  constituted  these  lines 
for  the  good  of  him  that  shall  make  the  Stone 
[shall  find  the  Word  that  was  made  flesh  ?]  if  it 
shall  fall  into  the  hands  of  such  a  one ;  for  to 
him  it  shall  show  and  set  down  in  plain  terms, 
as  plain  as  possibly  my  pen  can  write  to  the  very 


CH.  II.]  A  HERMETIC   PHILOSOPHER.  35 

letter,  such  magical  and  natural  uses  of  it,  as 
many  that  have  had  it  never  knew  nor  heard  of; 
and  such  as  when  I  beheld  them,  made  my  knees 
to  tremble,  and  my  heart  to  shake,  and  I  to  stand 
amazed  at  the  sight  of  them." 

I  have  many  reasons  for  believing  that  Swe- 
denborg's  knees  had  also  trembled,  that  his  heart 
had  quaked,  and  that  he  had  stood  amazed,  when 
he  discovered,  or  thought  he  discovered,  in  him- 
self the  "  secret  of  the  Lord,"  which  then  became 
for  him  an  open  secret,  called  by  him  the  opening 
of  his  internal  sight. 

This  gave  to  him,  as  I  suppose,  what  was  for 
him  a  miniature  representation  of  all  things  -un- 
der one  idea,  which  he  called  the  Lord. 

Many  efforts  have  been  made  to  describe  or 
express  this  idea,  but  without  conveying  the  idea 
itself. 

It  has  been  said  by  one  writer  to  contain 
the  ideas  of  all  things,  almost  like  so  many 
seeds. 

Another  has  compared  the  mind,  in  possession 
of  this  idea,  to  the  most  exquisitely  polished  cor- 
ner of  a  diamond,  placed  in  light,  giving  an  image 
of  all  things  against  it.  Others  have  compared 
the  mind  to  a  mirror, — though  few  can  "  hold  it  up 
to  nature,"  because  the  images  returned  are  af- 


36  SWEDENBOKG,  [CH.  II. 

fected  by  the  condition  of  the  mirror,  as  Plotinus 
has  said,  and  Lord  Bacon  after  him. 

Whatever  view  be  taken  of  this,  there  is  no 
reason  to  doubt  that  Swedenborg  had  what 
seemed  to  him  a  clear  opinion  upon  this  subject, 
as  an  underlying  principle,  from  which  his 
thoughts  all  flowed,  as  a  river  from  a  fountain, 
and  unless  this  idea  can  be  mastered,  it  will  not 
be  an  easy  matter  to  judge  of  Swedenborg's  writ- 
ings. 

The  reader  cannot  be  too  careful  in  keeping 
distinct  from  each  other  things  or  questions  that 
differ  from  each  other.  It  is  one  thing  to  deter- 
mine or  ascertain  the  principle  of  a  man's  thought, 
— his  love,  as  Swedenborg  would  say  ; — it  is  an- 
other and  a  very  different  question,  to  determine 
the  value  of  that  principle.  Swedenborg  called 
his  principle,-— the  principle  from  which  he  wrote, 
— the  opening  of  his  internal  sight  /  and  I  must 
urge  upon  his  student  that  in  this  he  presents  us 
a  problem,  calling  for  solution  before  his  writings 
can  be  read  with  intelligence  ;  for  it  seems  very 
plain,  that  if  we  accept  his  simple  declaration  on 
this  point,  and  fall  short  of  a  comprehension  of 
it,  we  must  necessarily  subordinate  our  principle 
of  life  to  that  of  another  man  ;  and  then  we  must 


CH.  II.]  A   HERMETIC   PHILOSOPHER.  37 

determine  upon  some  other  ground  why  we  ac- 
cept Swedenborg's  declarations  or  revelations  of 
truth,  and  reject  those  of  other  men, — those  of 
Jacob  Behmen  for  example, — who  have  claimed 
an  authority  as  high  as  Swedenborg  could  have 
pretended  to  ;  for  there  are  many  competitors  in 
this  field,  vast  numbers  of  men  having  lived, 
written  and  died  in  the  belief  of  their  being  the 
subjects  of  special  illumination. 

I  will  now  proceed  to  show  wherein  Sweden- 
borg appears  to  have  drawn  some  of  his  doctrines, 
seemingly  by  inference  from  the  alchemic  and 
Hermetic  writings,  occupying  most  of  my  space 
with  extracts,  for  I  wish  the  reader  to  judge  for 
himself. 


38  SWEDENBOKG,  CH.  III.] 


CHAPTEE   III. 

THE  first  point  of  similitude  to  which  I  shall 
refer,  between  Swedenborg  and  the  Hermetic 
writers,  may  assist  the  reader  in  forming  some 
idea  of  what  the  Swedish  Philosopher  understood 
by  the  expression  the  Lord,  already,  though  im- 
perfectly, examined.  I  refer  to  it  with  some 
timidity,  being  fully  aware  of  the  delicacy  of  the 
questions  connected  with  it.  It  touches  upon 
what  may  be  regarded  as  tJie  Secret  of  the  Her- 
metic writers,  and  while  I  am  of  the  opinion  that 
Swedenborg  drew  liis  doctrine  of  the  Lord,  in 
part  at  least,  from  those  writers,  I  feel  disposed 
to  protest  against  its  being  supposed  that  what 
the  alchemists,  or  Hermetic  philosophers,  consid- 
ered their  Secret,  has  been  openly  declared  in 
any  part  of  Swedenborg's  writings.  I  desire  to 
express  the  opinion  that  Swedenborg  did  not 
precisely  apprehend  the  Secret  of  Alchemy, 
while  yet,  as  I  must  believe,  he  thought  he  had 
entered  upon  its  possession,  and  a  large  part  of 


CH.  III.]  A   HERMETIC   PHILOSOPHER.  39 

his  philosophy  rests  upon  that  supposed  posses- 
sion. That  he  appropriated  the  idea  in  part  from 
the  Hermetic  writers  I  cannot  doubt,  but  I  feel 
very  sure  that  he  misapprehended  a  point  in  con- 
nection with  it  which  has  led  him  astray  in  some 
important  particulars.  I  do  not  say  this  in  a 
presumptuous  spirit,  as  if  I  knew  the  Secret  of 
Hermetic  philosophy,  and  had  it  in  my  power  to 
improve  the  representations  of  so  great  a  man  as 
Swedenborg.  It  is  possible  I  presume  for  a  very 
humble  man  to  perceive  some  mistakes  even  of  a 
very  great  man. 

I  do  not  wish  to  appear  as  assuming  to  know 
the  Hermetic  Secret,  nor  do  I  intend  it  to  be  un- 
derstood, by  a  pretence  of  modesty,  that  I  could 
reveal  the  secret  if  I  would.  I  plainly  declare, 
without  pretence,  that  I  have  some  idea  of  what 
lies  at  the  root  of  the  Hermetic  Art,  but  I  do  not 
feel  at  liberty  to  attempt  to  state  it  If  I  am 
right  in  my  supposition  about  it,  the  art  will  take 
care  of  itself  without  the  help  of  man;  and, 
moreover,  it  will  remain  in  the  world  though  all 
the  books  about  it  should  be  destroyed. 

In  referring  now,  as  I  intend  to  do,  to  what 
Swedenborg,  as  I  believe,  thought  was  the  Her- 
metic Secret,  I  wish  it  to  be  understood  that  I  do 
not  endorse  his  representation  of  it,  while  I  re- 


40  SWEDENBORG,  [Cn.  III. 

peat  nevertheless  that  he  was  a  follower  of  the 
Hermetic  class.  No  Hermetic  writer  has  written 
the  hundredth  part  of  what  Swedenborg  wrote, 
and  this  alone  might  lead  any  one  to  suspect  that 
he  did  not  precisely  touch  upon  the  veritable  se- 
cret, which  seems  everywhere  to  have  closed  the 
lips  of  the  adepts.  His  friends  may  suppose  that 
this  is  surrendering  the  point  I  am  endeavoring 
to  establish,  and  thus  affirm  that  his  position  is 
an  independent  one,  in  no  manner  connected 
with  the  Hermetic  philosophers;  but  it  should 
be  remembered  that  Calvin  and  Arminius  both 
took  their  doctrines  from  the  Scriptures,  and  yet 
differed  from  each  other  on  a  vital  point. 

But  to  come  now  to  the  parallel. 

Paragraph  3483.  Heavenly  Arcana.  "  What- 
soever anywhere  appears  in  the  universe,  is 
representative  of  the  Lord's  Kingdom,  insomuch 
that  there  is  not  any  thing  contained  in  the  uni- 
versal atmospheric  region  of  the  stars,  or  in  the 
earth,  and  its  three  kingdoms,  but  what  in  its 
manner  and  measure  is  representative;  for  all 
and  singular  the  things  in  nature  are  ultimate 
images,  inasmuch  as  from  the  Divine  proceed  the 
celestial  things  appertaining  to  good,  and  from 
these  celestial  things  the  spiritual  things  apper- 
taining to  truth,  and  from  both  the  former  and 


CH.  III.]  A   HERMETIC   PHILOSOPHER.  41 

the  latter  proceed  natural  things.  Hence  it  may 
appear  how  gross,  yea,  how  terrestrial,  and  also 
inverted,  human  intelligence  is,  which  ascribes 
all  and  singular  things  to  nature  separate  or  ex- 
empt from  influx  prior  to  itself,  or  from  the  effi- 
cient cause.  They  also  who  so  think  and  speak, 
seem  to  themselves  to  be  wiser  than  others,  when 
yet  angelic  wisdom  consists  in  ascribing  nothing 
to  nature,  but  all  and  singular  things  to  the  Lord, 
thus  to  a  principle  of  Life,  and  not  to  any  thing 
dead.  The  learned  know  that  subsistence  is  per- 
petual existence,  but  still  it  is  contrary  to  the 
affection  of  what  is  false,  and  thereby  contrary 
to  the  reputation  of  learning,  to  say  that  nature 
continually  subsists,  as  it  originally  had  existence, 
from  the  Lord.  Inasmuch  now  as  all  and  singu- 
lar things  subsist  from  the  Divine,  that  is,  con- 
tinually exist,  and  all  and  singular  things  thence 
derived  must  needs  be  representative  of  those 
things  whereby  they  had  existence,  it  follows, 
that  the  visible  universe  is  nothing  else  but  a 
theatre  representative  of  the  Lord's  Kingdom, 
and  that  this  latter  is  a  theatre  representative  of 
the  Lord  himself." 

"  3484.  From  very  much  experience  I  am  in- 
structed, that  there  is  but  one  single  source  of 
life,  which  is  that  of  the  Lord,  and  that  this  Life 


42  SWEDENBORG,  [OH.  HI. 

flows  in  and  causes  man  to  live,  yea,  causes  both 
the  good  and  the  wicked  to  live  ;  to  this  life  cor- 
respond forms  which  are  substances,  and  which 
by  continual  divine  influx  are  so  vivified,  that 
they  appear  to  themselves  to  live  by  or  from 
themselves.  This  correspondence  is  that  of  the 
recipient  organs  with  the  life  received  ;  but  such 
as  the  recipient  organs  are,  such  is  the  life  which 
they  live.  Those  men  who  are  principled  in  love 
and  charity  are  in  correspondence,  for  the  life 
itself  is  received  by  them  adequately  ;  but  they 
who  are  principled  in  things  contrary  to  love  and 
charity  are  not  in  correspondence,  because  the 
life  itself  is  not  received  adequately  ;  hence  they 
have  a  life  existing  with  them  according  to  their 
quality.  This  may  be  illustrated  by  the  case  of 
natural  forms  into  which  the  light  of  the  sun  is 
influent ;  such  as  the  recipient  forms  are,  such 
are  the  modifications  of  that  light ;  in  the  spirit- 
ual world  the  modifications  are  spiritual ;  there- 
fore in  that  world  such  as  the  recipient  forms  are, 
such  is  the  intelligence  and  such  the  wisdom  of 
the  inhabitants." 

In  this  last  paragraph  Swedenborg  sets  forth 
life,  the  life  of  the  Lord,  as  the  one  thing  in  all ; 
and,  as  I  must  believe,  he  thought  that  life  to  be 


CH.  III.]  A   HERMETIC   PHILOSOPHER.  4:3 

the  one  thing  to  which  the  alchemists  have  re- 
ferred in  so  many  ways,  as  the  one  only  thing 
required  in  their  work, — the  work  of  making  the 
philosopher's  stone  ; — the  one  thing,  as  Sweden- 
borg  evidently  thought,  essentially  to  be  known 
in  the  acquisition  of  wisdom  or  the  celestial  life. 
The  allusions  to  the  one  thing,  without  de- 
scribing it,  may  be  found  in  any  Hermetic  work 
whatever,  for  I  think  there  is  not  one  Hermetic 
writer  who  does  not  refer  to  the  "  one  thing  need- 
ful ;"  but  I  would  not  recommend  any  student  to 
be  hasty  in  concluding  that  he  knows  precisely 
what  this  is,  nor  need  he  be  forward  in  determin- 
ing the  wonders  it  works  in  the  world. 

I  will  cite  now  a  few  passages  from  alchemic 
or  Hermetic  books,  in  which  reference  is  made 
to  the  one  thing,  and  I  must  leave  the  reader  to 
form  his  own  opinion  as  to  whether  Swedenborg 
thought  he  had  "  laid  hold  of  it,"  in  his  notion  of 
the  one  life  in  all,  the  life  of  the  Lord,  as  he  calls 
it.  But  I  must  ask  the  reader  to  excuse  me  for 
suggesting  his  taking  the  matter  into  his  own 
thought,  under  an  appeal  to  God  for  protection 
against  error ;  for  the  opinion  of  no  man  living 
or  that  ever  lias  lived  can  stand  him  in  stead  on 
such  vital  questions,  in  the  day  of  trial. 


4A  8WEDENBOKG,  [On.  HI. 

"  Tliere  is  no  road  but  one  to  find  the  quick 
sulphur," — quoted  in  Zoroaster's  Cave. 

I  must  beg  the  reader  to  believe  that  this  lan- 
guage was  not  invented  and  used  by  thoughtless 
people,  much  less  by  triflers  who  were  careless 
of  the  honor  of  God.  It  must  be  attributed  to 
reverence  for  what  were  regarded  as  sacred  mys- 
teries, especially  the  mystery  of  godliness.  By 
quick  sulphur  was  symbolized  the  spirit  of  God, 
or  the  life  of  God,  to  find  which  is  salvation  to 
man. 

In  the  following  passage  the  same  thing  is 
called  water : 

"  Thou  needest  but  one  thing,  namely  water, 
and  one  operation,  to  wit,  decoction,  to  white  and 
red,  in  one  vessel, — understand,  of  one  nature." 
— Zoroaster's  Cave. 

Again :  "  Although  the  wise  men  (meaning 
Hermetic  writers)  have  varied  their  names,  and 
perplexed  their  sayings,  yet  they  would  always 
have  us  think  of  but  one  thing,  one  disposition, 
one  way.  The  wise  men  know  this  one  thing ; 
and  that  it  is  one  they  have  often  proved." — Ibid. 

Again :  "  In  the  multiplicity  of  things  our  art 
is  not  perfected.  For  it  is  one  stone,  one  medi- 
cine, in  which  consists  the  whole  magistery ;  to 
which  we  add  nothing  extraneous,  nor  take  away 


CH.  III.]  A   HEKlVfETIC   PHILOSOPHER.  45 

any  thing,  but  only,  in  our  preparation,  that  which 
is  superfluous." — Ibid. 

Again :  "  White  and  red  proceed  from  the 
same  root,  without  any  other  nature  intervenient. 
For  it  dissolves  and  conjoins  itself,  makes  itself 
black  and  citrine,  white  and  red ;  espouses  itself, 
conceives,  brings  forth,  and  does  all  to  the  per- 
fect end." — Rhasis. 

Again:  "Our  water,  gilded  with  solar  sul- 
phur, is  the  secret  of  the  Egyptians,  Chaldeans, 
Arabians,  Persians,  and  Greeks."— Anonymous. 

In  the  above  passage,  by  our  water,  may  be 
understood  our  spirit;  and  by  solar  sulphur, 
that  which  in  a  preceding  extract  is  called  guickr 
sulphur  ;  indicating  that  man  is  perfected  by  the  I 
spirit  of  God  ;  the  one  thing,  which  Swedenborg' 
called  the  life  of  the  Lord. 

Again:  "Mercury  alone  perfects  the  work. 
In  it  we  find  all  that  we  need:  to  it  we  add 
nothing  extraneous." — Thos.  Aquinas. 

Again :  "  The  stone  is  one  :  yet  this  one  is  not 
one  in  number,  but  in  nature." — Zoroaster's  Cave. 

Again:  " This  mystery  is  wont  to  be  made 
of  one  only  thing :  therefore  put  this  in  thy  mind, 
for  thou  needest  not  many  things,  but  one  only 
thing." — Mbrien. 

When  Morien   is   represented   to   have  said 


46  8WEDENBORG,  [Cn.  III. 

this,  he  at  the  same  time  told  his  pupil,  who  was 
an  eastern  king,  that  the  one  thing  was  in  him- 
self. 

The  Hermetic  writers  call  it  by  an  endless 
variety  of  names,  constantly  warning  us,  how- 
ever, that  it  is  but  one  only  thing. 

If  the  reader  has  seen  the  volume  of  "  Re- 
marks upon  Alchemy,"  he  may  the  more  easily 
perhaps  understand  these  extracts,  to  which  I 
will  add  several  more  without  further  explana- 
tion, my  purpose  being  simply  to  show  that 
Swedenborg  thought  the  one  thing  (in  all)  is  the 
life  of  the  Lord  ;  and  to  show  also,  that  he  adopt- 
ed his  form  of  writing  most  likely  from  Hermetic 
books. 

Again :  "  And  know  for  certain,  that  the  phi- 
losophers cared  not  for  the  names,  but  one  name, 
and  one  action  ;  to  wit,  to  seethe  the  stone,  and 
bring  forth  his  soul ;  because  their  stone  is  always 
one." — Amcen. 

Again  :  "  The  matter  of  this  work,  according 
to  all  authentic  philosophers,  is  one  only  thing, 
containing  in  itself  all  necessaries  for  the  accom- 
plishment of  its  own  perfection." — Ripley. 

Again :  "  And  know  that  the  philosophers 
declare,  that  the  permanent  water  is  taken  out  of 
light ;  but  the  light  maketh  fire,  and  the  light 


CH.  HI.]  A   HERMETIC   PHILOSOPHER.  47 

shining  and  transparent,  becometh  like  one  stray- 
ing seeking  lodging :  but  when  light  is  conjoined 
unto  light,  it  rejoice th  ;  because  it  came  out  of 
it,  and  is  converted  into  it." — Mireris. 

The  author  of  the  Revelation  of  the  Secret 
Spirit  has  a  succession  of  extracts,  with  remarks 
on  this  point,  of  which  the  following  is  an  ex- 
ample: 

"  One  saith,  '  our  stone  is  no  other  but  salt ; 
who  worketh  in  this  ar,t  without  salt,  is  like  unto 
him  who  would  shoot  a  bow  without  a  string. 
If  the  omnipotent  God  had  created  no  salt,  the 
art  of  alchemy  had  not  been.  Salt  is  coprose, 
and  coprose  is  salt ;  all  lesser  and  greater  miner- 
als truly  are  nothing  else  but  salt:  nothing  is 
more  fluxible  than  salt :  nothing  more  piercing 
than  salt,  and  his  nature  :  nothing  cleaner,  purer, 
more  spiritual,  and  more  subtle,  than  salt  and  his 
nature.  Nothing  stronger  than  salt  and  his  na- 
ture ;  nothing  more  incombustible  than  salt  and  his 
nature  ;  nothing  more  volatile  than  salt  and  his 
nature ;  nothing  sweeter  than  salt  and  his  nature ; 
nothing  more  sour  than  salt  and  his  nature!' 

"These  passages,  (says  the  author,)  seem  to 
be  repugnant  to  each  other — sweet  and  sour ; — 
but  they  are  to  be  understood,  sour  before  prepa- 
ration, and  sweet  after."  [Said  of  man.] 


4:8  SWEDENBOKG,  [On.  III. 

"  And  following  it  is  said,  '  nothing  is  nearer 
to  the  fire  than  salt  and  his  nature ;  nothing  more 
lasting  and  fit  to  preserve  things  from  putrefac- 
tion than  salt  and  his  nature.' 

"  Then,  seeing  that  salt,  even  as  he  is,  without 
other  preparation,  is  of  such  virtue  that  it  pre- 
serveth  things  from  putrefaction,  as  we  see  by 
experience,  what  will  it  do,  when  the  elements 
are  separated  from  it,  and  it  shall  be  reduced  into 
a  fifth  essence  ?  I  think  with  myself  that  it  shall 
be  that,  which  our  philosopher  understandeth  to 
be  the  secret  spirit. 

"  But  the  philosopher  saith,  '  Salt  is  the  life 
of  all  things : '  and  Morien  saith,  '  But  this  stone 
is  not  a  vulgar  stone,  because  it  is  more  precious 
— without  which  nature  worketh  nothing  at  any 
time,  and  its  name  is  One.' 

"  Therefore,  whoso  knoweth  salt  and  his  dis- 
solution, knoweth  the  secret  of  the  ancient  wise 
men.  Therefore  set  thy  mind  upon  SALT.  Think 
not  upon  other  things.  For  in  it  only  is  hid  the 
science,  and  the  chief  mystery,  and  the  greatest 
secret  of  all  the  ancient  philosophers." 

Thomas  Norton  (1477)  in  his  Ordinal  of  Al- 
chemy, speaks  of  the  one  thing  under  the  name 
of  magnesia,  and  describes  it  by  what  he  calls  its 
colors,  which,  he  tells  us,  may  assist  in  enabling 


CH.  III.]  A   HEKMETIC   PHILOSOPHER.  49 

us  to  discover  the  "  principal  agent "  (in  the  work 
of  making  the  stone).  He  concludes  what  he 
says  ot  colors  by  comparing  magnesia  to  a  crys- 
tal^ which  appears  to  have  the  color  of  any  and 
every  object  over  which  it  is  placed  ; — meaning 
to  indicate  that  it  is  one  thing  seen  seemingly 
under  the  varieties  of  all  things.  This  is  an  il- 
lustration taken  from  the  sense  of  sight.  Norton 
goes  through  all  of  the  senses  in  the  same  way, 
smelling,  hearing,  &c.,  as  if  they  gave  us  notice 
of  some  one  thing  in  fact,  under  infinite  forms. 

This  one  thing  Swedenborg  calls  life,  the  life 
of  the  Lord. 

Sandivogius  describes  the  One  thing  under 
the  name  of  nature,  but  takes  care  to  tell  us  that 
the  nature  to  which  he  refers  is  invisible,  though 
she  works,  he  says,  visibly.  He  describes  it  as 
one  thing,  taking  the  form  or  character  of  the 
"  place  "  where  it  is,  and  he  illustrates  it  by  say- 
ing :  "  Let  there  be  set  a  vessel  of  water  upon  a 
smooth,  even  table,  and  be  placed  in  the  middle 
thereof ;  and  round  about  it  let  there  be  laid  di- 
vers things,  and  divers  colors,  also  salt,  and  every 
one  apart :  then  let  the  water  be  poured  forth 
into  the  middle,  and  you  shall  see  that  water  to 
run  abroad  here  and  there  ;  and  when  one  stream 
is  come  to  the  red  color,  it  is  made  red  by  it;  if 


50  SWEDENBOKG,  [Cn.  III. 

to  the  salt,  it  takes  from  it  the  taste  of  the  salt, 
and  so  of  the  rest.  For  the  water  doth  not 
change  the  place,  but  the  diversity  of  the  place 
changeth  the  water." 

He  says  that  "  Nature  is  one,  true,  plain,  per- 
fect, and  entire  in  its  own  being,  which  God 
made  from  the  beginning,  placing  his  spirit  in  it : 
but  know  (he  continues)  that  the  bounds  of  nature 
is  God  himself,  who  is  also  the  original  of  nature. 
For  it  is  certain,  that  every  thing  that  is  begun 
ends  nowhere  but  in  that  in  which  it  begins.  I 
say  it  is  that  only  alone,  by  which  God  works  all 
things  :  not  that  God  cannot  work  without  it  (for 
truly  he  himself  made  nature,  and  is  omnipotent), 
but  so  it  pleaseth  him  to  do.  All  things  proceed 
from  this  very  nature  alone ;  neither  is  there  any 
thing  in  the  world  without  nature." 

«  #  *  #  Moreover,  nature  is  not  visible, 
although  she  acts  visibly  :  for  it  is  a  volatile 
spirit,  which  executes  its  office  in  bodies,  and  is 
placed  and  seated  in  the  will  and  mind  of  God. 
Nature  in  this  place  serves  us  for  no  other  pur- 
pose but  to  understand  her  places,  that  is,  to  un- 
derstand how  to  join  one  thing  to  another,  ac- 
cording to  nature.  *  *  The  place  of  nature 
is  no  other  than,  as  I  said  before,  what  is  in  the 
will  of  God,"  &c. 


CH.  Ill]  A   HERMETIC   PHILOSOPHER.  51 

That  which  Sandivogius  calls  nature,  ex- 
pressly taking  the  word  from  under  its  common 
signification,  saying,  among  other  things,  that  it 
is  invisible,  is  what  Swedenborg  intends  by  the 
word  Life ;  but  what  I  desire  to  say  is  that,  either 
lie  did  not  precisely  apprehend  the  sense  of  the 
alchemists,  or  his  readers  are  in  precisely  that 
predicament  with  respect  to  himself;  for  who 
knows,  from  reading  Swedenborg,  what  life  is  ? 
If  he  had  himself  an  idea  of  it,  he  has  not  been 
able  to  communicate  it  to  others. 

To  show  still  further  a  probable  source  of 
Swedenborg's  idea  of  life,  and  of  its  submitting, 
as  it  were,  to  the  character  of  the  subject  in  which 
it  acts,  or  what  he  calls  its  recipient,  I  will  recite 
an  additional  passage  from  the  alchemist  Norton, 
where  he  treats  of  what  he  calls  the  concords, 
which,  as  he  says,  are  necessary  in  the  work  (of 
making  the  stone.)  But  I  will  go  so  far  as  to  say 
that  the  places  referred  to  by  Norton  are  different 
sorts  of  men,  some  of  whom  are  adapted  to  the 
work,  and  others  not, — no  great  mystery  surely, 
when  openly  stated  ;  for  who  does  not  know  that 
men  differ  from  each  other  in  their  capacity  for 
goodness,  truth,  piety,  &c.  ? 

"  The  Fourth  Concord  is  full  notable 
Between  this  Arte  and  PLACES  convenable," 


52  SWEDENBORQ,  [On.  III. 

[For  places  convenable,  let  the  reader  under- 
stand men  suitable  for  the  work.] 

(C  Some  places  must  needs  be  evermore  dry, 
Close  from  air,  no  ways  windy;  " 

[i.  e.  free  from  passions.] 

"  Some  must  be  dark  and  dim  of  sight, 
In  which  sun-beams  none  may  light  j" 

[i.  e.  by  sun-beams  we  may  understand  Rea- 
son, which  scarcely  finds  entrance  at  all  in  some 
men  whose  "  affections  are  dark  as  Erebus, — the 
motions  of  whose  spirit  are  dull  as  night."] 

"  But  for  some  Places,  the  truth  so  is, 
They  cannot  have  too  much  brightness : 
Some  Places  must  needs  be  moist  and  cold 
For  some  works,  as  authors  told  ; 
But  in  our  "Works  in  every  place, 
Wind  [passion]  will  hurt  in  every  case : 
Therefore  for  every  work  in  season, 
Ye  must  ordain  Places  by  Reason. 
Philosophers  said  by  their  engine,  [ingenuity,  genius,] 
How  it  [the  Stone]  should  be  wrought  within  locks 
nine: 

[This  nine  refers  to  an  old  notion  of  the  five 
senses  and  four  virtues  in  man,  (see  Philo,)  in 
whom  the  philosopher's  work  is  perfected.] 


Cu.  III.]  A   HERMETIC   PHIL08OPHEE.  53 

"  Astrologers  said  it  was  a  grace, 
To  find  a  chosen  working  Place  ;  " 

[i.  e.  a  grace,  to  find  a  man  so  perfect  in  body 
and  inind,  as  to  be  a  suitable  subject  to  be  car- 
ried forward  into  what  the  philosophers  called  a 
plusquam  perfection.] 

"  For  many  things  will  wonders  do 
In  some  Places  and  elsewhere  not  so, 
But  contrary  wonders  be  of  one  thing 
In  contrary  countries    wrought    without    leasing  ; 


Whereof  no  other  cause  may  appear, 

But  only  contrary  Places  of  the  sphere  : 
*  *  *  * 

Wherefore  wise  men  which  for  this  Art  sought, 
Found  some   Places  [some  men]  concordant,  some 

Places  nought  ; 

Truly  such  Places  where  Lechery  is  used 
Must  for  this  Art  be  utterly  refused." 

In  Ashmole's  Theatrum  Chemicum  Britanni- 
cum  there  are  many  passages  which  seem  just 
enough  to  point  to  life  as  the  one  thing  —  to  de- 
lude a  hasty  reader.  The  language  is  very  anti- 
quated, and  would  not  be  quoted  for  its  beauty  ; 
but  a  lover  of  truth  does  not  rest  upon  mere 
words. 


54  SWEDENBOKG,  [Cn.  III. 

"  Our  Stone  is  made  of  one  simple  thing, 
That  in  Him  hath  both  Soul  and  Life  ; 
He  is  Two  and  One  in  kinde  [in  nature,] 
Married  together  as  man  and  wife : 
Our  Sulphur  is  our  Masculine, 
Our  Mercury  is  our  Feminine, 
Our  Earth  is  our  Water  clear ; 
Our  Sulphur  also  is  our  Fire, 
And  as  Earth  is  in  our  Water  clear, 
So  is  Air  in  our  Fire. 
Now  have  ye  elements  four  of  might, 
And  yet  there  appeareth  but  two  of  sight ; 
Water  and  Earth  ye  well  may  see, 
Fire  and  Air  be  in  them  as  quality : 
This  Science  may  not  be  taught  to  every  one, 
He  were  accurst  that  should  so  done."    Page  352. 

At  page  381,  in  a  conversation  between  Father 
and  Son,  the  Father  tells  the  Son3  who  asks  where 
the  "  one  thing  doth  grow  "- 

"  In  every  place  (Son)  you  shall  him  well  find  j 
By  Taste  and  by  Color  thou  shalt  him  well  know ; 
Fowls  in  the  air  with  it  do  fly, 
And  Fishes  do  swim  therewith  in  the  sea : 
With  Reason  of  Angels  you  may  it  discern,"  &c. 

In  this  passage  I  consider  that  the  allusion  to 
angels — the  Reason  of  Angels — is  precisely  in 
Swedenborg's  sense,  to  be  explained  hereafter. 


CH.  III.]  A   HERMETIC   PHILOSOPHER.  55 

The  reader  shall  also  see  that  the  Hermetic 
writers  had  a  secret  language  called  Lingua,  An- 
gelorum. 

The  following  passage  seems  to  set  out  with 
verbal  accuracy  Swedenborg's  doctrine  of  the 
Lord,  yet  let  the  reader  beware  of  supposing  that 
mere  words  can  teach  this  "  selcouth  thing." 

"  My  beloved  Son  I  command  thee, 

As  thou  wilt  have  my  love  and  blessing, 

That  thou  to  God  kneel  on  thy  knee, 

And  to  Him  give  laud  and  thanking, 

For  these  gifts  of  grace  given  unto  thee, 

To  have  true  knowledge  of  this  worthy  science, 

That  many  men  seek  by  land  and  sea, 

Yet  cannot  find  it  for  any  expense : 

I  shall  shew  thee  my  Son  here  a  hid  secret, 

Because  thou  art  virtuous  in  thy  living, 

Of  me  else  shouldst  thou  never  it  weet  [know], 

And  for  thou  art  wise  in  thy  council  keeping, 

And  therefore  I  charge  thee  on  my  blessing, 

Not  to  shew  it  to  any  man  living, 

For  it  is  the  first  principle  of  our  blessed  stone, 

Through  which  our  noble  work  is  relieved ; 

Note  well  that  I  shew  to  thee  my  /Son, 

If  sulphur  be  absent  our  work  is  deprived  [dead]} 

Our  Sulphur,  my  Son,  is  Water  and  Fire, 

Constraineth  the  Body  till  it  be  dead ; 

Of  them  thou  hast  never  thy  desire, 

Till  he  be  blue  as  any  Lead ; 


56  SWEDENBOKG,  [C0.  III. 

After  all  this  he  doth  revive, 

That  in  his  Vessel  before  was  dead ; 

I  can  no  better  in  my  reason  contrive, 

Than  to  figure  him  to  the  great  God-head. 

For  as  there  died  no  more  than  one, 

Howbeit  that  there  be  Persons  Three, 

The  Father,  the  Son  by  might  is  One : 

The  Holy  Ghost  make  our  full  Trinity : 

A  similitude  like  unto  our  Stone, 

In  Him  are  things  Three  which  are  concluded  all  in  One ; 

Our  Sulphur  is  likened  to  the  Holy  Ghost, 

For  He  is  Quick  [living]  called  the  Spirit  of  Life, 

In  His  working  of  might  he  is  most. 

He  raiseth  our  Body  from  death  to  Life, 

Many,  my  Son,  with  Him  do  rise, 

The  Holy  gospel  therein  is  expert, 

The  number  my  reason  cannot  contrive."    Page  383. 

In  Salmon's  commentary  on  Hermes  the  one 
thing  is  affirmed  in  many  ways,  of  which  the  fol- 
lowing is  an  example : — 

The  matter  of  our  Stone  is  but  one;  and 
therefore  nothing  can  be  more  alien  from  the 
Art  than  to  seek  for  it  in  many  things ;  Nature 
is  not  mended  or  made  better,  but  by  a  nature 
of  its  own  kind.  As  vinegar  makes  vinegar, — so 
our  Art  begins  with  mercury,  and  with  the  same 
mercury  it  is  finished.  [Swedenborg's  "  Life."  ] 
It  is  a  kind  of  Proteus,  which,  creeping  upon  the 


CH.  HI.]  A   HERMETIC   PHILOSOPHER.  57 

earth,  assnmes  the  nature  of  a  serpent ;  but  being 
immersed  in  water,  it  represents  a  fish ;  presently 
taking  to  itself  wings,  it  ascends  aloft,  and  flies 
like  a  bird ;  yet  notwithstanding  it  is  but  one  and 
the  same  Mercury.  *  *  *  Till  you  have  pu- 
trified  the  matter  [i.  e.  brought  about  a  true  hu- 
mility], you  have  not  made  one  step  in  the  true 
way;  but  that  being  done,  you  have  accom- 
plished the  first  sign  of  the  Art,  as  Hermes 
testifies. 

The  following  additional  passage  from  Swe- 
denborg  will  show  the  similarity  of  idea  to  which 
I  refer — yet  with  a  difference,  for  I  am  unwilling 
to  allow  that  Swedenborg  attained  the  veritable 
idea : — 

"  In  regard  to  the  Life  of  every  one,  whether 
man,  or  spirit,  or  angel,  it  flows  in  solely  from 
the  Lord,  who  is  essential  Life,  and  diffuses  him- 
self through  the  universal  heaven,  and  even 
through  hell,  consequently  into  every  individual 
therein,  and  this  in  an  incomprehensible  order 
and  series;  but  the  Life  which  flows  in  is  re- 
ceived by  every  one  according  to  his  prevailing 
principle ;  good  and  truth  is  received  as  good 
and  truth  by  the  good ;  whereas  good  and  truth 
is  received  as  evil  and  the  false  by  the  wicked, 
3« 


58  8WEDENBOKG,  [Cn.  III. 

and  is  even  changed  into  evil  and  the  false  in 
them.  This  is  comparatively  as  the  light  of  the 
gun,  which  diffuses  itself  into  all  objects  on  the 
face  of  the  earth,  but  is  received  according  to 
the  quality  of  each  object,  and  becomes  a  beauti- 
ful color  in  beautiful  forms,  and  of  an  ugly  color 
in  ugly  forms."  Par.  2888,  Heavenly  Arcana. 

Any  number  of  passages  like  the  above  might 
be  recited  from  Swedenborg,  unifying  the  whole 
of  life,  so  to  say,  and  in  that,  as  I  believe,  Swe- 
denborg thought  he  saw  the  truth  as  the  Her- 
metic writers  saw  it ;  but  it  is  certain  that  he  but 
partially  saw  it ;  and  making  his  partial  vision  a 
ground  of  reasoning  and  philosophy,  it  was  una- 
voidable that  he  should  expand  himself,  as  it 
were,  into  inconsistencies,  as  he  certainly  has 
done,  notwithstanding  his  vast  knowledge  and 
genius.  He  is  at  fault  as  to  the  nature  of  what 
he  calls  the  recipient,  the  proprium,  and  the  will, 
and  conveys  no  clear  knowledge  of  them,  or  of 
what  he  calls  Life  either. 

Swedenborg  is  not  perfectly  consistent  with 
himself, — not  absolutely  consequential.  He  says 
at  times  that  the  soul  makes  its  own  organ  ;  and 
then  in  other  places,  he  speaks  of  the  organ  as  the 
recipient  of  life,  as  if  it  was  something  of  itself; 


CH.  III.]  A   HERMETIC   PHILOSOPHER.  59 

then,  again,  he  will  refer  all  things  to  God,  in- 
cluding the  recipient :  but,  a  page  or  so  after- 
wards we  come  again  perhaps  upon  the  notion 
that  the  recipient  in  man  is  something  itself,  and 
while  theoretically  denying  all  independent  real- 
ity to  it,  he  calls  it  the  proprium,  the  root  of  self, 
and,  so  far,  he  calls  it  altogether  evil.  In  short, 
Swedenborg  does  not  appear  to  have  clearly  con- 
ceived the  precise  unity,  so  as  to  merge  the  dual- 
ity •  and  in  this,  as  I  suppose,  he  did  not  reach 
the  Hermetic  point  of  view  of  the  /Stone,  the  one 
thing.  He  often  speaks  of  the  Lord  as  the  One, 
the  one  life  in  all,  and  says  he  is  in  Heaven  and 
in  Hell  also.  Then  he  says  something  similar  of 
the  Grand-Man,  as  a  comprehensive  word  in- 
cluding all  men,  good  and  bad,  that  is,  Human- 
ity ;  then  he  tells  us,  in  other  places,  that  those 
only  are  in  the  Grand-Man  who  are  in  love  to 
the  Lord  and  in  charity  towards  the  neighbor, 
these  being  in  Heaven  ;  while  those  who  are  in 
the  love  of  self  and  the  love  of  the  world,  &c., 
are  out  of  the  Grand-Man,  and  are  in  Hell.  He 
tells  us  that  Hell  is  from  man,  as  is  also  Heaven ; 
that  evil  men  are  in  Hell,  and  constitute  it,  and 
yet  that  evil  comes  from  hell ;  and  he  so  buries 
this  circle  of  reasoning  in  words,  that  a  hasty 
reader  does  not  perceive  that  he  is  learning 


60  SWEDENBOKG,  [Cn.  III. 

nothing  on  the  subject.  He  is  even  more  wide 
of  all  rational  representation  on  the  subject  of 
the  will.  Swedenborg  sets  forth  the  doctrine  of 
the  omnipotence  of  the  Lord  as  extending  to  all 
things,  including  the  human  will,  and  yet  con- 
tends strongly  for  the  freedom  of  will  in  man. 
On  this  subject  the  Swedish  philosopher  gives  us 
no  light  whatever,  but  is  on  a  footing  with  the 
most  ordinary  pretenders  to  philosophy  among 
us.  God  is  all  in  all,  and  yet  man  has  a  free- 
will ;  but  how  this  is  to  be  understood,  Sweden- 
borg does  not  explain.  He  tells  us  that  man 
must  act  "  as  if"  he  was  free,  but  must  "know  that 
he  can  do  nothing  without  God.  In  plain  words, 
he  must  endeavor  to  put  something  like  a  decep- 
tion upon  himself,  and  cheat  himself  into  the  be- 
lief of  his  freedom,  knowing  all  the  time  that  he 
is  nothing  of  himself,  and  must  refer  all  power 
to  God. 

The  reader  will  find  nowhere,  as  I  believe,  so 
close  an  examination  of  the  question  of  Being 
and  non-being — God  and  man — as  in  Plato's 
Sophist,  a  model  of  a  Hermetic  work,  where 
Plato  indicates  the  Su/preme  as  the  one  true  and 
genuine  Sophist,  all  others  being  imitations,  some 
nearer  and  others  more  remote,  the  nearest  being 
what  he  calls  the  "  scientific  imitator  ;  " — imita- 


CH. 


A   HEEMETIC   PHILOSOPHER.  61 


tor  of  what  ?  —  of  the  true  invisible  Sophist,  who 
sometimes,  as  Plato  says,  "  exhibits  himself  as 
the  instrument  of  the  thing  "  exhibited. 

This  opinion  may  strike  most  readers  of  Plato 
with  surprise  ;  but  that  I  cannot  help. 

Plato,  in  the  Sophist,  beyond  all  question,  has 
intimated  his  opinion  that  God  may  cuppear  in 
man  ;  and  he  was  perhaps  better  prepared  by 
his  studies  and  contemplations,  to  acknowledge 
God  in  Christ,  than  any  other  man  that  ever 
lived,  except  the  Apostles  themselves. 


62  SWEDENBOKG,  CH.  IV.] 


CHAPTEK    IV. 

SWEDENBOKG  was  not  mad,  nor  was  he  under 
any  peculiar  hallucination.  His  doctrines  are 
everywhere  disclosed  with  the  calmness  of  sci- 
ence, and  there  is  no  sign  of  enthusiasm  in  any 
part  of  them  except  in  the  form  of  earnestness  in 
behalf  of  truth,  or  of  what  he  considered  as  such. 
There  is  very  little  that  can  be  regarded  as  con- 
troversial in  his  writings,  and  nothing  of  asperity, 
unless  occasionally  a  word  may  show  something 
of  it,  when  referring  to  the  Roman  Catholic  High- 
Priest,  or  to  the  particular  tenet  of  the  Athana- 
sian  creed  which  asserts  a  trinity  of  persons  in  the 
divine  nature,  Swedenborg  contending  for  the 
unity  of  God,  of  one  person,  but  of  three  essences, 
or  three  somethings  which  I  will  not  undertake 
to  define. 

Among  the  many  volumes  written  by  Swe- 
denborg, we  have  one  work  in  English,  entitled 


CH.  IV.]  A  HERMETIC   PHILOSOPHER.  63 

Heavenly  Arcana,  extending  to  twelve  volumes 
octavo,  one  object  of  which  is  to  give  the  spiritual 
or  internal  sense  of  the  books  of  Moses, — or  of 
Genesis  and  Exodus,  for  the  interpretation  ex- 
tends no  farther.  He  has  written  five  large  vol- 
umes upon  the  Apocalypse,  and  many  other 
works  in  exposition  of  his  doctrines  and  opinions. 

The  principle  upon  which  the  Heavenly  Ar- 
cana, and  many  of  Swedenborg's  other  works 
were  written,  is  usually  called  that  of  correspond- 
ence. It  is  stated,  repeated,  and  enforced  in  many 
places  throughout  his  writings; — most  briefly 
perhaps,  yet  most  formally,  in  the  True  Christian 
Religion,  page  267,  thus  :  There  is  not  any  thing 
in  the  mind  to  which  something  in  the  body  does 
not  correspond :  and  this  which  corresponds  may 
be  called  the  embodying  of  that. 

It  might  require  a  volume  to  expound  this 
principle, — to  do  it  justice, — to  show  its  founda- 
tion and  explain  its  application  :  and  then  it  might 
call  for  another  volume  to  refute  the  doctrine,  or 
show  that,  if  true  even,  it  is  beyond  the  power  of 
man  to  apply  it  to  any  use :  and,  when  thus  re- 
futed, it  would  not  stay  refuted,  but  would  again 
come  to  the  surface  in  some  form  or  other,  and 
remain,  as  it  will,  a  subject  of  controversy  in  the 
world  to  all  time  ; — the  reason  of  which  lies  in  the 


64  SWEDENBOKG,  [Cfl.  IV. 

nature  of  man,  as  a  compound  being  of  thought 
and  ~body. 

I  do  not  understand,  myself,  that  a  knowledge 
of  this  principle  of  correspondence  was  claimed 
by  Swedenborg  as  a  revelation  in  any  special 
sense,  but  that  the  application  of  it,  that  is,  the 
power  to  use  it,  grew  up  out  of  or  under  the  in- 
fluence of  some  special  light  from  the  "Lord,"' 
Swedenborg  calling  this  influence  the  opening  of 
his  internal  sight. 

The  principle  of  correspondence  itself  is  sup- 
posed by  many  to  be  in  Plato.  The  spiritual 
wwld,  in  Swedenborg's  sense,  seems  very  similar 
to  what  is  understood  by  Plato's  intelligible  world, 
or  world  of  ideas^  as  being  the  types  or  patterns 
of  all  material  things  in  the  universe,  common 
articles  of  furniture  included,  "  beds,"  &c. 

This  doctrine  has  had  its  advocates  and  its 
opposers  ever  since  the  days  of  Plato,  and  was  no 
doubt  the  ground  of  the  controversy  which  pre- 
ceded Plato,  and  was  characterized  by  him  as  a 
giants'  war.  In  the  middle  ages  the  war  was 
carried  on  under  the  names  of  realism  and  nomi- 
nalism. It  will  be  definitively  settled  when  the 
nature  of  man  shall  be  known,  and  it  shall  be  un- 
derstood in  what  sense  he  is  a  spiritual  being,  and 
in  what  sense  he  is  a  material  being,  and  not  before. 


CH.  IV.]  A   HERMETIC   PHILOSOPHEK.  65 

Professor  Butler,  late  of  the  Dublin  Univer- 
sity, has  left  some  lectures  expounding  the  Pla- 
tonic doctrine  very  fully,  and  with  as  much  clear- 
ness perhaps  as  the  subject  admits. 

The  professor's  namesake,  the  immortal  author 
of  Hudibras,  has  ridiculed  the  doctrine  in  the 
person  of  one  of  his  types  of  man,  of  whom  he 
says : — 

"  Th'  intelligible  world  he  knew, 
And  all  men  dream  on't  to  be  true, 
That  in  this  world  there's  not  a  wart 
That  has  not  there  a  counterpart ; 
Nor  can  there,  on  the  face  of  ground, 
An  individual  beard  be  found 
That  has  not,  in  that  foreign  nation, 
A  fellow  of  the  self-same  fashion  ; 
So  cut,  so  color'd.  and  so  curl'd, 
As  those  are  in  the  inferior  world." 

Ridicule  is  a  powerful  weapon,  well  calculated 
to  drive  away  shallow  pretenders  to  an  art  not 
understood,  'tis  said,  by  one  in  a  million  ;  whose 
truth  nevertheless  is  affirmed  and  evidenced  by 
all  the  tokens  of  sincerity  that  man  can  give,  in- 
cluding the  renunciation  of  fame  and  of  wealth, 
and  even  by  the  sacrifice  of  life  itself; — though 
all  this,  it  is  admitted,  can  prove  nothing  but  sin- 
cerity.  But  to  return  to  Swedenborg. 


66  SWEDENBOKG,  [CH.  IV 

He  refers  to  the  doctrine  of  correspondence, 
distinctly,  in  his  work  on  the  Animal  Kingdom 
(vol.  i.,  p.  451),  written  before  he  came  into  the 
spiritual  light ;  and  if  I  mistake  not,  his  Hiero- 
glyphic Key,  exhibiting  many  examples  of  the 
doctrine,  was  also  among  his  earlier  works. 

In  the  application  of  the  doctrine,  I  under- 
stand that  Swedenborg's  friends  claim  for  him 
something  like  a  special  illumination,  using  this 
word  as  a  sort  of  compromise  expression,  imply- 
ing something  very  extraordinary  and  uncom- 
mon, but  not  precisely  supernatural  in  the  sense 
of  the  miraculous. 

He  tells  us  himself  in  the  first  pages  of  the 
Heavenly  Arcana,  that  he  will  disclose  something 
never  before  published. 

But  I  expect  to  show  that  the  principle  of  this 
doctrine  of  correspondence  was  known,  and,  to 
some  extent  applied,  at  least  by  implication,  to 
the  interpretation  of  the  first  part  of  Genesis,  by 
the  Alchemists  or  Hermetic  Philosophers,  before 
Swedenborg  was  born. 

Without  going  into  minute  details  with  re- 
gard to  the  interpretations  themselves,  I  will 
simply  say  that  his  principle  declares,  that  the 
letter  of  the  Mosaic  record  encloses  a  spiritual 
sense,  which  can  by  no  means  be  gathered  by  a 


CH.  IV.]  A   HERMETIC   PHILOSOPHER.  67 

literal  reading  of  those  records ;  and,  particularly, 
that  the  opening  verses  of  Genesis  are  not  to  be 
understood  as  referring  to  the  creation  of  the 
natural  world,  but  to  the  re-creation,  that  is,  to 
the  regeneration  of  man. 

The  process  of  the  regeneration  of  man,  Swe- 
denborg  affirms,  is  signified  in  the  first  verses  of 
the  book  of  Genesis. 

Those  who  wish  to  satisfy  themselves,  as  to 
details  or  particulars,  may  consult  the  first  pages 
of  the  Heavenly  Arcana,  where  the  doctrine  of 
correspondence  is  stated  and  applied. 

It  is  my  purpose  to  show  that  the  alchemists, 
the  mystic  seekers  after  the  philosopher's  stone, 
who  were  in  fact  spiritual  philosophers  chiefly 
busy  about  the  new  birth  or  the  regeneration  of 
man,  virtually  put  the  identical  interpretation 
upon  the  opening  verses  of  Genesis  that  Sweden- 
borg  did,  though  not  with  the  direct  purpose  of 
interpreting  the  book  of  Genesis. 

I  desire  to  say,  however,  before  proceeding 
any  farther,  that  I  do  not  undertake  to  decide 
upon  the  validity  or  the  value  of  the  interpreta- 
tion. It  is  my  vocation  to  bring  to  light  a  curi- 
ous question,  which  I  am  sure  is  worthy  the  ex- 
amination of  considerate  men,  but  every  one  must 
make  a  decision  upon  the  question  for  himself. 


68  SWEDENBOKG,  [Cn.  IV. 

Thomas  Vaughan^  under  the  name  of  Euge- 
nius  Philalethe,  about  the  middle  of  the  seven- 
teenth century,  published  a  number  of  works  on 
Alchemy  or  Hermetic  Philosophy,  in  nearly 
every  one  of  which  the  author  has  something  to 
say  of  the  interpretation  of  Genesis,  referring  the 
reader  to  the  spirit  and  not  to  the  letter ;  that  is, 
calling  his  attention  away  from  the  letter  to  the 
spirit.  I  find  it  difficult  to  select  among  many 
passages,  those  which  may  indicate  in  the  least 
compass  the  principle  to  which  I  have  referred 
as  the  basis  of  the  doctrine  of  correspondence, 
but  I  will  commence  with  a  work  entitled  Magia 
Adamica,  published  in  1650.  In  this  work  there 
is  a  long  discussion,  the  object  of  which  is  to 
prove  that  Moses  was  a  natural  Magician,  by 

*  Dean  Swift  pronounced  one  work  by  Vaughan — Anthropo- 
sophia  Theomagica — to  be  'most  intolerable  fustian;'  but  this 
judgment  is  of  little  value,  coming  from  a  professed  wit,  whose 
disappointments  in  life,  working  on  a  selfish  nature,  drove  him  to 
ridicule,  not  the  follies  of  men,  but  the  very  race  itself;  inso- 
much that,  in  most  cases,  whoever  laughs  at  the  Dean's  wit  is 
unconsciously  laughing  at  himself.  Swift  had  no  idea  of  the 
class  of  writers  to  which  Vaughan  belonged,  and  from  the  very 
nature  of  his  life,  if  we  can  rely  upon  the  history  we  have  of 
him,  was  necessarily  shut  out,  "  by  a  wonderful  providence,"  from 
all  knowledge  of  the  Hermetic  Art.  Vaughan,  however,  is  not 
classed  among  the  adepts,  and  was  set  down  as  not  having 
reached  "  the  greater  pyrotechny." 


CH.  IV.]  A   HERMETIC   PHILOSOPHER.  69 

which  was  meant  that  he  was  by  nature  a  wise 
man  ; — a  proper  derivation  from  the  ancient  use 
of  the  word  magi  ;  and,  further,  to  prove  that  he 
wrote  of  magic  [wisdom]  under  a  veil ;  and  by 
magic  Vaughan  understood  Alchemy  or  Hermet- 
ic Philosophy ;  that  is,  the  Philosopher's  Stone ; 
the  Stone  being  man,  the  object  of  the  art  being 
the  perfection  of  man,  as  I  have  set  forth  in  my 
Remarks  on  Alchemy  and  the  Alchemists. 

Philalethe  affirms  that  in  Genesis  Moses 
"hath  discovered  many  particulars  [beyond 
what  appears  in  the  letter]  and  especially  those 
secrets  that  have  most  relation  to  this  [Hermetic 
or  Alchemic]  art.  For  instance,  he  hath  discov- 
ered [that  is,  made  known]  the  Minera  of  man, 
or  that  substance  out  of  which  man,  and  all  his 
fellow  creatures  were  made.  This  is  the  First 
Matter  of  the  Philosopher's  Stone.  Moses  some- 
times calls  it  water,  sometimes  earth ;  for,  in  a 
certain  place  I  read  thus :  And  God  said,  Let  the 
waters  bring  forth  abundantly  the  moving  crea- 
ture that  hath  life,  and  fowl  that  mayfly  above 
the  earth  in  the  open  firmament.  But  elsewhere 
we  read  otherwise,  thus :  And  out  of  the  ground 
the  Lord  God  formed  every  beast  of  the  field,  and 
every  fowl  of  the  air.  In  this  latter  text  we  read 
that  God  made  every  fowl  of  the  air  out  of  the 


70  8WEDENBORG,  [On.  IV. 

ground ;  but  in  the  former  it  is  written,  that  he 
made  them  out  of  the  water.  Certainly  Aristotle 
and  his  syllogism  can  never  reconcile  these  two 
places ;  but  a  little  skill  in  magic  [wisdom]  will 
make  them  kiss,  and  be  friends  without  a  charm. 
This  substance  then  (continues  Philalethe)  is  both 
earth  and  water,  yet  neither  of  them  in  their 
common  characteristics,  but  it  is  a  thick  water 
and  a  subtle  earth.  *  *  *  The  Philosophers 
call  it  water  and  no  water,  earth  and  no  earth : 
and  why  may  not  Moses  speak  as  they  do  ?  or 
why  may  they  not  write  as  Moses  did  ?  This  is 
the  true  Damascen  earth,  out  of  which  God  made 
man."  *****  «But  this  is  not  all 
that  Moses  hath  written  to  this  purpose  ;  I  could 
cite  many  more  magical  and  mystical  places; 
~but  in  so  doing  I  should  he  too  open  ;  wherefore 
I  must  forbear." 

The  author  then  undertakes  to  show  some- 
thing of  what  he  calls  the  practice  (of  Moses)  cor- 
responding to  the  art  of  the  philosophers  in  mak- 
ing what  the  Hermetic  writers  called  durum 
potabile ;  and  then  makes  this  important  dec- 
laration : — 

"  If  I  should  insist  in  this  place  on  the  Mosa- 
ical  Ceremonial  Law,  with  its  several  reverend 
shadows,  and  their  significations,  I  might  lose 


CH.  IV.]  A   HERMETIC    PHILOSOPHER.  71 

myself  in  a  wilderness  of  mysteries,  both  divine 
and  natural ;  for,  verily,  that  whole  system  is  but 
one  vast  SKREEN,  or  a  certain  majestic  umbrage 
drawn  over  two  worlds  visible  and  invisible. 
But  these  are  things  of  a  higher  speculation  than 
the  scope  of  our  present  discourse  will  admit  of. 
I  only  inform  the  reader  that  the  Law  hath  both 
a  shell  and  a  kernel ;  it  is  the  letter  that  speaks, 
but  the  spirit  interprets." 

It  must  be  recollected  that  the  author  was  a 
Hermetic  philosopher,  and  will  tell  us  nothing 
openly.  He,  too,  speaks  through  the  letter,  and 
leaves  the  reader  to  gather  his  meaning  as  he 
best  can  by  the  exercise  of  patience,  judgment, 
candor,  and  ingenuity ;  or,  it  may  be,  with  those 
who  are  blessed  with  it,  by  the  help  of  the  Spirit. 

He  proceeds  next  to  show  that  the  "  manifest " 
part,  that  is,  the  letter,  was  intended  for  the  gen- 
eral mass  of  men,  "whose  thoughts  (says  he) 
were  fixed  here  below,  [in  the  senses  and  upon 
sensuous  blessings,]  but  the  hidden,  for  the  few 
only,  whose  minds  aspired  upwards  to  heavenly 
things." 

It  might  fatigue  the  reader,  or  I  could  cite  a 
dozen  pages  or  more  to  show  that  the  alchemists 
regarded  the  books  of  Moses  as  a  screen,  needing 
the  spirit  for  an  understanding  of  the  "  internal 


72  SWEDENBOKG,  [On.  IV. 

sense,"  as  Swedenborg  calls  it;  and  that  the 
opening  verses  do  not  refer  to  the  natural  or 
material  world,  but  to  the  regeneration  of  man. 

The  reader  has  seen  that  Vaughan  distinctly 
speaks  of  the  writings  of  Moses  as  a  screen.  Let 
us  now  see  if  we  can  discover  what  the  Hermetic 
Philosophers  thought  was  behind  it.  But  we 
must  remember  that  we  are  dealing  with  Her- 
metic writers,  who  write  "  before  and  behind," 
"  within  and  without."  They  suggest,  but  rarely 
tell  us  any  thing  openly.  Their  writings  are  full 
of  obscurity,  because  it  was  thought  that  the 
common  people  could  not  endure  the  truth,  or 
would  misuse  and  abuse  it.  But  the  common 
people  of  this  age  would  have  been  uncommon 
people  when  Hermetic  books  were  written.  The 
subject,  I  warn  the  reader,  is  of  more  real  im- 
portance than  any  other  one  thing  that  can  enter 
the  mind  of  man.  But  to  proceed. 

Sandivogius  was  an  alchemist  of  perhaps  as 
high  repute  as  any  of  the  seekers  of  the  mystic 
stone,  with  a  new  name  written  upon  it,  "  which 
no  man  knoweth  saving  he  that  receiveth  it."  I 
cannot  give  the  date  of  his  works  in  Latin ;  but, 
a  part  of  them  appeared  in  English  in  1650,  and 
a  second  edition  in  1674,  with  the  title : — u  A 
New  Light  on  Alchemy,  taken  out  of  the  Foun- 


CH.  IV.]  A  HEKMETIC   PHILOSOPHER. 


73 


tain  of  Nature  and  Manuel  Experience :  To 
which  is  added  a  Treatise  on  Sulphur." 

In  the  "  Address  to  the  Keader,"  the  trans- 
lator takes  the  ground  that  Philosophy  and  Di- 
vinity are  one  and  the  same ;  in  proof  of  which 
he  says  : — 

"  Can  any  deny  that  Hermes,  Plato,  and 
Aristotle,  though  pure  naturalists,  were  not  most 
deep  divines  ?  Do  not  all  grant,  that  the  two 
first  chapters  of  Genesis  are  true  divinity  ?  I 
dare  affirm  that  they  are  the  most  deep  and  the 
truest  philosophy.  Yes,  they  are  the  ground  and 
sum  of  all  divinity  and  philosophy  :  and  if  right- 
ly understood,  will  teach  thee  more  knowledge 
of  God,  and  of  thyself,  than  all  the  books  in  the 
world  besides." 

This  particular  writer  says  no  more  on  this 
point ;  but  we  shall  soon  see  to  what  that  under- 
standing rightly  of  Genesis  refers,  and  that  it  is 
the  regeneration  of  man,  which  is  consummated 
when  the  fiat  of  the  Eternal  sends  "  light "  into 
the  soul  of  man.  The  reader  will  please  observe 
and  remember  the  vast  importance  attached  by 
the  alchemist  to  the  two  first  chapters  of  Genesis, 
when  rightly  understood. 

The  next  work  on  alchemy  to  which  I  will 

refer,  has  so  remarkable  a  title  that  I  will  copy 
4 


74  SWEDENBORG,  [Cn.  IV. 

it  entire,  desiring  the  reader  to  notice  the  claim 
to  inspiration  therein  set  up,  by  the  publisher, 
not  by  the  writer,  by  which  it  may  be  seen  that 
Swedenborg  had  a  forerunner  on  this  point.  The 
Swedish  mystic  (?)  had  predecessors  in  his  own 
peculiar  walk.  The  title  runs  : — 

"  Secrets  Revealed :  Or,  an  Open  Entrance  to 
the  Shut  Palace  of  the  King.  Containing  the 
greatest  Treasure  in  Chymistry  [Alchemy]  never 
yet  so  plainly  discovered  [made  known].  Com- 
posed by  a  most  famous  Englishman,  styling 
himself  ANONYMUS,  or  Eyrceneus  Philaletha  Cos- 
mopolita :  who,  l>y  INSPIRATION  and  Reading,  at- 
tained to  the  Philosopher's  Stone  at  the  age  of 
twenty-three  years,  Anno  Domini,  1645." 

This  work  was  published  in  1659 ;  and  the 
5th  chapter  opens  as  follows  : — 

"  Let  the  Son  of  the  Philosophers  hearken  to 
the  Sophi  unanimously  concluding,  that  this 
Work  [that  is,  the  work  of  making  the  Philoso- 
pher's Stone]  is  to  be  likened  to  the  creation  of 
the  universe.  Therefore,  In  the  beginning  God 
created  the  Heaven  and  the  Earth,  and  the  Earth 
was  void  and  empty,  and  darkness  was  upon  the 
face  of  the  deep  ;  and  the  Spirit  of  the  Lord 
was  carried  upon  the  face  of  the  waters,  and  God 
said,  Let  there  be  Light,  and  there  was  Light. 


CH.  IV.]  A   HERMETIC   PHILOSOPHER.  75 

"  These  words  (says  this  author)  are  sufficient 
for  a  Son  of  Art,  for  the  Heaven  ought  to  be  con- 
joined with  the  Earth  upon  a  bed  of  friendship 
and  love,"  &c.  In  the  conclusion  of  the  chapter 
the  author  exclaims,  in  the  language  of  Holy 
writ,  "Good  God!  How  wonderful  are  thy 
works !  'Tis  thy  doing,  and  it  seems  miraculous 
in  our  eyes.  Father,  I  thank  thee,  that  thou  hast 
hidden  these  things  from  the  wise,  and  revealed 
them  to  babes." 

What  can  the  reader  understand  by  this  lan- 
guage, but  that  the  writer  had  been  the  subject 
of  some  extraordinary  experience ;  and  to  what 
can  it  be  referred  with  so  much  probability  as  to 
that  known  in  Scripture  usually  under  the  name 
of  the  new  birth ;  that  is,  the  regeneration  of 
man  ?  And  yet  the  work  is  illustrated  by  a  di- 
rect reference  to  the  first  verses  of  Genesis,  which 
another  alchemist  tells  us  will  teach  us,  if  rightly 
understood,  more  than  all  the  books  in  the  world 
besides.  Let  the  language  of  Eyraeneus  be  con- 
sidered also  in  connection  with  the  declaration 
of  Yaughan,  that  the  books  of  Moses  have  both  a 
shell  and  a  kernel,  and  that  the  letter  of  the  Pen- 
tateuch is  one  vast  screen  drawn  over  two  worlds, 
visible  and  invisible: — what  must -then  be  in- 


76  SWEDENBOKG,  [CH.  IV. 

ferred  ?  To  answer  this  truly,  one  may  perhaps 
need  to  find,  first,  the  Philosopher's  Stone. 

Here  is  another  passage,  and  I  take  it  from 
ESPAGNET'S  "  Arcanum,  or,  the  grand  Secret  of 
Hermetic  Philosophy,  wherein  the  Secrets  of  Na- 
ture and  Art,  concerning  the  matter  and  manner 
of  making  the  Philosopher's  composition,  are  or- 
derly and  methodically  'manifested.'"  (1650.) 

"  The  generation  of  our  Stone  (says  this  writer) 
is  made  after  the  pattern  of  the  creation  of  the 
world ;  [let  the  reader  consider  that  it  is  man, 
passing  through  the  process  of  regeneration  : — 
from  a  chaotic  state  of  darkness,  ignorance,  and 
passion,  to  a  state  of  light,  knowledge,  and  free- 
dom, under  the  teaching  and  guidance  of  nature 
and  God,]  for  it  is  necessary  (says  Espagnet)  that 
it  have  its  chaos  and  first  matter,  wherein  the 
confused  elements  do  fluctuate,  until  they  be 
separated  by  the  fiery  spirit :  they  being  sepa- 
rated, the  light  elements  are  carried  upwards, 
and  the  heavy  downwards.  The  Light  [knowl- 
edge] arising,  the  Darkness  [ignorance]  recedes. 
The  waters  are  gathered  into  one,  and  the  dry 
land  appears.  At  length  the  two  great  lumina- 
ries arise,  and  mineral  virtues,  vegetable  and  ani- 
mal, are  produced  in  the  Philosopher's  EAKTH." 
That  is,  in  the  MAN,  who  is  the  subject  of  this 


CH.  IV.]  A  HERMETIC   PHILOSOPHER.  77 

regeneration,  for  this  is  the  "  earth  which  is  no 
earth,  and  water  which  is  no  water," — the  most 
wonderful  product  of  the  universe. 

The  above  passage,  it  is  true,  simply  compares 
the  work  to  that  of  Genesis;  but  this  mode  of 
writing  is  very  common  with  the  Hermetic  phi- 
losophers. They  often  compare  the  Stone  to  man, 
saying  that,  like  man,  their  Stone  has  a  body,  a 
soul,  and  a  spirit ;  meaning  thereby  that  the  at- 
tentive reader  shall  understand  that  the  subject  of 
the  work  is  man.  Occasionally  some  of  the  writ- 
ers express  themselves  quite  openly,  but  in  such 
a  manner  that  they  appear  to  be  indulging  in  a 
digression,  leaving  the  subject  of  the  Stone  aside. 

They  attribute  a  trinity  to  man,  and  in  this 
also  Swedenborg  is  in  harmony  with  them,  for  he 
describes  man  as  having  a  natural,  a  spiritual, 
and  a  celestial  nature, — sometimes  called  outward, 
inward,  and  inmost, — which,  he  says,  are  suc- 
cessively "  opened  "  in  man,  under  certain  condi- 
tions. To  have  the  inmost  "  opened  "  is  to  be  in 
the  celestial  state,  where  principles  and  eternal 
truths  are  contemplated,  and  facts  are  seen  in 
their  principles,  out  of  relation  to  either  time  or 
place.  This  places  a  man  in  what  Swedenborg 
calls  the  third  heaven,  and  constitutes  him  an 
angel.  Here  he  disputes  with  no  one  [see  para- 


78  SWEDENBOKG,  [Cfl.  IV. 

grapli  270,  Heaven  and  Hell] :  all  is  light  and 
truth,  and  the  individual  in  this  state  constitutes 
"  a  heaven  in  its  least  form."  A  society  of  such 
men  is  heaven  in  a  larger  form,  while  the  whole 
race,  or  mankind,  if  it  could  come  into  this  state, 
would  constitute  the  universal  heaven,  where  all 
would  "  appear  as  one  man  before  the  LOKD," 
who  is  the  Divine  Humanity  of  God,  the  WOKD, 
the  Eternal  Truth,  the  Life. 

I  am  speaking  only  of  what  I  understand  to 
be  the  theory  of  Swedenborg,  and  in  the  most 
general  manner.  His  principal  works  may  be 
easily  had  by  those  who  desire  to  become  ac- 
quainted with  his  system  more  in  detail. 

I  find  still  another  reference  to  the  books  of 
Moses  in  Espagnet,  on  this  point,  which  I  will 
copy.  The  writer  brings  into  requisition  for  Her- 
metic illustration,  in  addition  to  Genesis,  a  few 
verses  from  Deuteronomy,  and  I  will  not  curtail 
the  passage,  though  a  part  of  it  is  a  repetition  of 
what  has  been  already  recited. 

"  Some  have  sought  (says  Espagnet)  for  the 
latent  philosophical  earth  by  calcination,  others 
by  sublimation ;  many  among  glazed  vessels,  and 
some  few  in  vitriol  and  salt,  even  as  among  their 
natural  vessels :  others  enjoin  that  it  be  sublimed 
out  of  lime  and  glass. 


CH.  IV.]  A   HERMETIC   PHILOSOPHER.  79 

"  But  we  have  learned  of  the  Prophet  that : — 
'  In  the  beginning  God  created  the  heaven  and  the 
earth  •  and  the  earth  was  without  form  and  void, 
and  darkness  was  upon  the  face  of  the  deep :  and 
the  Spirit  of  God  moved  upon  the  waters  /  and 
God  said,  Let  there  he  light,  and  there  was  light  / 
and  God  saw  the  light,  that  it  was  good,  and  he 
divided  the  light  from  the  darkness]  &c. 

"  And  Joseph's  blessing,  spoken  of  by  the 
same  prophet,  will  be  sufficient  for  a  wise  man 
(Deut.  33)  :— 

"  '  .Blessed  of  the  Lord  he  his  LAND,  for  the 
APPLES  of  heaven,  for  the  DEW,  and  for  the  DEEP 
that  lieth  beneath  ;  for  the  apples  of  fruit  both  of 
SUN  and  MOON  ;  for  the  top  of  the  ancient  moun- 
tains ;  for  the  APPixsofthe  everlasting  hills,1 "  &c. 

Upon  which  Espagnet  says  :  "  Pray  the  Lord 
from  the  bottom  of  thy  soul,  my  son,  that  he 
would  bestow  upon  thee  a  portion  of  this  blessed 
Land" 

By  land,  here  spoken  of,  Espagnet  evidently 
supposes  was  meant  what  in  the  sixth  chapter  of 
Secrets  Revealed  is  called — "  the  waters  enclosed 
within,  which  do  shun  our  sight,  and  yet  really 
and  truly  are.  These  are  those  waters  (says  Es- 
pagnet) that  the  author  of  the  New  Light  speaks 
of,  to  wit,  which  are,  and  do  not  appear  until  the 


80  SWEDENBORG,  [CH.  IV. 

Artist  pleaseth."  This  AKTIST  (of  man)  is  again 
referred  to  in  the  same  chapter,  in  which  the 
work  of  regeneration  is  still  spoken  of  figuratively. 
Thus  : — "  Let  Diana  be  propitious  unto  thee,  who 
knows  how  to  tame  the  wild  beasts  [the  wild  pas- 
sions] ;  whose  two  doves  [the  so-called  two  lumi- 
naries] shall  temperate  the  malignity  of  the  air 
with  their  feathers ;  then  the  youth  [the  philo- 
sophical child]  enters  easily  in  through  the  pores, 
presently  shaking  the  waters  above,  and  stirs  up 
a  ruddy  and  rubish  cloud : — Do  thou  bring  in 
the  water  over  him  even  to  the  brightness  of  the 
moon,  and  so  the  darkness  which  was  upon  the 
face  of  the  abyss  [the  unregenerate  man]  will  be 
discussed  by  the  spirit  which  moves  itself  in  the 
waters  [the  same  man]  :  thus  by  the  command 
of  God  [the  sole  AKTIST  in  this  spiritual  work] 
light  shall  appear:  separate  the  light  from  the 
darkness  the  seventh  time,  and  then  this  sophic 
[wise]  creating  of  thy  Mercury  [thyself]  shall  be 
complete,  and  the  seventh  day  shall  be  to  thee  a 
Sabbath  of  rest." 

This  may  all  appear  very  mystical,  and,  taken 
literally,  no  doubt  it  is  so :  but  to  the  considerate 
reader  it  may  indicate  the  point  I  am  endeavor- 
ing to  establish  ; — that  the  Hermetic  philosophers 
interpreted  the  writings  of  Moses,  I  mean,  the 


CH.  IV.]  A  HERMETIC  PHILOSOPHEE.  81 

opening  verses  of  Genesis,  as  symbolical  of  the 
regeneration  of  man,  which  Swedenborg,  in  vio- 
lation of  the  Hermetic  law  of  secrecy,  has  openly 
asserted  as  his  own  understanding  of  those  writ- 
ings. 


82  SWEDENBORG,  CH.  V.] 


'         '1 


CHAPTEK   V. 

To  show  that  I  do  not  speak  at  random  in 
comparing  Swedenborg's  doctrines  to  those  of  the 
Alchemists,  with  respect  to  the  three  natures  in 
man,  I  will  refer  here  to  a  work  by  Philalethe, 
entitled  Anthr&posophia  Theomagica  (published 
in  1650),  page  38,  where  the  author  says  : — 

"  As  the  great  world  consists  of  three  parts, 
the  elemental,  the  ccdestial,  and  the  spiritual, 
above  all  which  God  himself  is  seated  in  that  in- 
finite inaccessible  light,  which  streams  from  his 
own  nature ;  even  so  MAN  hath  in  him  his  earthly 
elemental  parts,  together  with  the  codestial  and 
angelical  natures,  in  the  centre  of  which  moves 
and  shines  the  Divine  Spirit" 

No  one  need  look  far  into  Swedenborg's  writ- 
ings without  finding  the  above  doctrine,  only 
slightly  varied  perhaps  in  the  phraseology  used 
in  stating  it.  For  example : — 

"There  are  three  principles  in  man,  which 


CH.  V.]  A  HERMETIC   PHIL080PHEK.  83 

concur  and  unite  together, — the  natural,  the 
spiritual,  and  the  celestial.  The  natural  princi- 
ple never  receives  any  life  except  from  the  spirit- 
ual, nor  the  spiritual  but  from  the  celestial,  nor 
the  celestial  unless  from  the  Lord  alone,  who  is 
Life  itself." — Heavenly  Arcana,  par.  880. 

This  is  sufficiently  clear  for  my  purpose,  and 
perhaps  I  ought  not  to  oppress  the  reader  with 
long  extracts  in  further  illustration  of  this  doc- 
trine and  its  application.  Swedenborg  changes, 
indeed,  the  terms  employed  and  the  order  of 
them,  but  the  meaning  is  changed  with  them, 
maintaining  the  same  sense,  or  nonsense,  if  the 
reader  chooses,  though  there  appears  to  be  some 
sense  in  this  view  of  a  very  abstruse  and  myste- 
rious subject.  I  would  have  the  reader  notice 
the  use  of  the  word  angelical  by  the  alchemist, 
corresponding  to  Swedenborg's  use  of  the  word 
celestial.,  as  the  third  state  or  nature  of  man ;  be- 
cause Swedenborg  himself,  as  I  have  already 
stated,  speaks  of  man  as  an  angel  when  in  this 
third  state,  or  when  his  "interior  sense"  is 
"  opened  to  the  third  degree."  This  can  hardly 
be  called  an  accidental  coincidence. 

Hermetic  writers  constantly  refer  to  the  doc- 
trine of  the  Trinity  in  unity,  while  treating  of 


84:  SWEDENBOKG,  [Ca.  V. 

their  STONE,  but  they  wrote  so  obscurely  that 
they  overshot  themselves ;  for  while  intending 
by  this  obscurity  only  to  withdraw  their  books 
from  the  merely  ignorant  and  from  the  profane, 
they  have  for  the  most  part  closed  them  from  the 
learned  and  from  the  well  disposed  also.  They 
never  speak  of  the  Stone  as  MAN,  directly ;  but 
they  often  compare  it  to  man,  meaning  that  the 
attentive  reader  shall  understand  that  man  is  the 
real  subject.  The  following  passage  from  "Kip- 
ley  Revived  "  (1678)  will  show  what  I  here  refer 
to:— 

"  Our  STONE  is  likened  to  MAN,  who  although 
he  have  a  wife  different  from  him  in  sex,  yet  she 
is  one  with  him  in  nature ;  and  in  this  sense  man 
is  called  the  microcosm,  or  less- world  :  for  indeed, 
next  to  man,  who  is  the  image  of  God,  the  Stone 
is  the  true  little  system  of  the  great  world.  *  * 

"  This  STONE  is  also  called  Trine,  or  Trinity  in 
unity,  from  the  homogeneity  of  the  matter : — as 
Trevison  saith :  Our  STONE  is  made  of  one  root, 
that  is,  of  two  Mercurial  Substances,  &c.  This 
Trinity  is  discerned  in  the  components ;  for  first 
there  is  the  Body,  which  is  Sol;  and  the  water 
of  Mercury ;  in  which,  besides  its  mercuriality, 
there  is  a  spiritual  seed  of  Sulphur,  which  is  the 
Secret  Fire.  This,  is  the  Trinity,  and  these 


CH.  V.]  A   HERMETIC   PHILOSOPHER.  85 

are  called  the  Body,  the  Soul,  and  the  /Spirit: 
the  Body  is  the  dead  Earth,  which  increaseth  not 
without  the  celestial  virtue;  the  Spirit  is  the 
Soul  of  our  Air  or  Chamelion,  which  is  also  of  a 
two-fold  composure,  yet  made  one  inseparably ; 
the  Soul  is  the  Bond  of  Mercury,  without  which 
our  Fire  never  appears,  nor  can  appear,  for  it  is 
naked."  *  *  *  *  "Thus  is  the  Trinity 
proportionable,  to  wit,  three  natures  in  the  first 
mixture.  The  "Work  is  carried  to  perfection  ac- 
cording to  the  virtue  of  a  Body,  Soul,  and  Spirit : 
for  the  Body  would  never  be  penetrable,  were  it 
not  for  the  Spirit,  nor  would  the  Spirit  be  per- 
manent in  its  super-perfect  Tincture,  were  it  not 
for  the  Body ;  nor  could  these  two  act  one  upon 
another  without  the  Soul,  for  the  Spirit  is  an  in- 
visible thing,  nor  doth  it  ever  appear  without 
another  GARMENT,  which  garment  is  the  SOUL." 

I  might  insist  here,  and  illustrate  at  length, 
that  this  GARMENT  (in  alchemy)  is  what  is  under- 
stood in  Swedenborg  to  be  the  Spiritual  Body 
of  MAN,  the  true  MAN.  In  the  natural  man,  so 
called,  this  soul  is  supposed  to  be  chaotic,  and  it 
needs  to  be  touched  by  the  Spirit ;  which  never- 
theless it  bears  within  itself,  as  yet  unknown  to 
itself,  and  it  remains  unknown  until  the  "  Artist," 


86  SWEDENBOKG,  [Ca.  V. 

God,  pleaseth.  And  here  the  text  is  often  re- 
peated, the  wind  bloweth  as  it  listeth,  &c. 

With  respect  to  this  garment,  I  will  adduce 
another  passage  in  which  it  is  still  more  plainly 
indicated — from  the  same  writer, — remarking,  by 
the  way,  that  it  was  the  notion  of  the  Spiritual 
Body  as  represented  by  Swedenborg,  that  first 
attracted  the  attention  of  a  learned  professor  in 
New  York,  who  published  a  volume  on  the  sub- 
ject announcing  himself  a  Swedenborgian. 

"Thus  (says  Cosmopolite!),  thy  "Work  is 
brought  to  the  true  Touch-stone,  and  that  is 
Trinity  in  Unity;  for  in  this  pondus  of  your 
Mercury  [yourself,  reader, — for  the  subject  is 
man]  you  have  a  potential  Body  [Swedenborg's 
Spiritual  Body],  which  is  one  part  of  three  of  the 
Mercury  [of  the  man]  which  may  by  Art  be 
made  to  appear.  [This  Art  they  call  divine.] 
This  potential  Body  is  to  be  reckoned  to  your 
actual  Body,  and  that  makes  with  it  two ;  and 
so,  inpotentia,  you  have  two  of  the  Body  to  one 
of  the  Spirit,  which  is  three  to  three,  and  one  to 
one.  And  this  potential  Body  is  at  first  spiritual 
and  volatile,  in  manifesto,  for  the  unity  sake ; 
for  without  it  there  could  be  no  unity.  Thus 
then  a  potential  Body  but  an  actual  Spirit,  is 
joined  with  an  actual  Body,  by  which  means  the 


CH.  V.]  A   HERMETIC   PHILOSOPHER.  87 

actual  Body,  when  it  is  actually  dissolved  and 
made  no  Body,  but  a  Spirit  or  Spiritual  Body, 
this  potential  Spiritual  Body,  which  was  in  the 
water  before,  receives  this  potentialized  Body, 
and  both  unite  and  congeal  together,  and  is  en- 
dowed with  a  double  nature  and  virtue,  that  is, 
Spiritual  and  Corporeal,  Heavenly  and  Earthly. 
And  thus  is  made  an  union  of  which  the  propor- 
tion of  the  water  in  its  first  preparation,  and  its 
due  mixing  with  its  Body,  was  the  moving  cause, 
really  though  hiddenly  enforcing  the  compound 
by  the  necessity  of  its  end,  which  it  could  not 
have  done  had  it-not  been  so  proportioned." 

if  iff J:'.-.  .'ttlMff     ,.',-->    5       V       '- 

The  reader  may  decry  this  subject  as  much  as 
he  pleases,  and  may  ridicule  the  idea  that  the  al- 
chemists were  religious  philosophers  ;  but  who- 
ever will  take  the  pains  to  look  into  their  mysti- 
cal writings  may  easily  see  their  true  subject, 
and  with  some  patient  study  may  learn  something 
of  their  arcane  opinions ;  and  then  he  cannot  fail 
to  see,  if  acquainted  with  Swedenborg's  writings, 
that  the  Swedish  Philosopher  trod  in  the  foot- 
steps of  Philaletha  Cosmopolita,  and  others  of 
the  mystic  Stone  seekers. 

Swedenborg  says  that  the  end  (object,  aim,  or 


88  »;-m        8WEDENBORG,  [Cfl.  V. 

purpose)  of  the  Lord,  is  a  universal  heaven 
through  man ;  that  the  angels  of  heaven  were  all 
once  men ;  that  Heaven  is  constituted  or  com- 
posed of  men  in  the  angelic  or  celestial  state. 

This  doctrine  is  abundantly  found  in  Hermet- 
ic books,  though,  as  the  writers  express  them- 
selves obscurely,  it  requires  some  acquaintance 
with  their  manner  of  writing  to  perceive  their 
purpose  ;  but  I  may  possibly  make  it  appear  to 
the  attentive  reader. 

There  is  scarcely  any  one  principle  or  dogma 
more  frequently  referred  to  in  Hermetic  works 
than  one  to  be  found  in  what  is  called  the  /Sma- 
ragdine  Table,  attributed  to  HERMES, — a  work 
comprised  in  about  a  page  of  ordinary  printing, 
written  by  nobody  knows  who,  and  nobody  knows 
when,  to  wit : 

"  That  which  is  above  is  as  that  which  is  be- 
neath, and  that  which  is  beneath  is  as  that  which 
is  above,  to  work  the  miracles  of  one  thing." 

This  principle  is,  in  truth,  the  very  root  of 
Swedenborg's  doctrine  of  correspondence,  and 
shows  also  its  connection  with  his  doctrine  of  the 
LORD  ;  for  the  "  above  "  and  the  "  beneath,"  are 
the  spiritual  and  natural  worlds  of  Swedenborg ; 
and  the  "  one  thing  "  is  the  LORD,  the  Life  of  the 
two  worlds.  In  Swedenborg's  language  the 


CH.  V.]  A  HERMETIC   PHILOSOPHER.  89 

Lord  is  the  End,  the  spiritual  world  the  Cause, 
and  the  natural  world  is  the  Effect ;  yet  the  Ef- 
fect contains  the  Cause,  and  both  express  the 
Life.  Call  these  Salt,  Sulphur,  and  Mercury, 
and  we  shall  express  the  same  thing  in  alchemic 
language.  The  natural  world,  so  called,  meaning 
the  visible,  is  a  world  of  effects,  and  symbolizes 
or  "  corresponds "  to  the  spiritual  world,  and 
would  be  nothing  without  it,  as  the  spiritual,  in 
its  turn,  would  be  nothing  without  the  Life,  the 
"  one  thing  "  in  all. 

It  is  common  in  the  world,  as  I  know  very 
well,  that  a  doctrine  obscurely  stated  is  for  that 
very  reason  imagined  to  enclose  extraordinary 
arcana  of  undefined  and  inexpressible  impor- 
tance,— a  remark  I  think  proper  to  make  that  the 
reader,  if  necessary,  may  be  put  on  his  guard 
against  trusting  his  imagination  in  the  interpreta- 
tion of  mysteries. 

I  would  have  no  one  accept  any  interpreta- 
tion that  shall  not  appear  rational.  It  is  much 
better  to  forbear  making  an  interpretation  alto- 
gether than  to  devise  a  merely  fanciful  and  ficti- 
tious one,  under  a  vague  notion  that  we  are 
obliged  to  understand  every  thing,  for  there  are 
many  things  that  we  cannot  understand  at  all. 
No  temporary  convenience  or  imaginary  satisfac- 


90  6WEDENBOKG,  [Cfl.  V. 

tion  can  compensate  for  adopting  an  error  as  the 
substantial  truth. 

This  doctrine  or  dogma  of  Hermes  appears  in 
many  forms  in  the  Hermetic  writings.  In  one 
form  it  reads,  translated  from  the  Coptic,  as  al- 
leged : 

"  Heaven  above,  Heaven  beneath ; 
Stars  above,  Stars  beneath ; 
All  that  is  above  is  also  beneath : 

Understand  this  and  be  happy." 

In  commenting  upon  these  dark  hints,  Phila- 
lethe  says : — 

"  To  speak  plainly,  Heaven  itself  was  origi- 
nally extracted  from  Inferiors  [out  of  man,  says 
Swedenborg],  yet  not  so  entirely,  but  that  some 
portion  of  the  Heavenly  natures  remained  still 
below  and  are  the  very  same  in  essence  and  sub- 
stance with  the  separated  stars  and  skies.  Heav- 
en here  below  differs  not  from  that  above  but  in 
her  captivity,  and  that  above  differs  not  from  this 
below  but  in  her  liberty.  The  one  is  imprisoned 
in  matter,  the  other  is  freed  from  the  grossness 
and  impurities  of  it ;  but  they  are  both  of  one 
and  the  same  nature,  so  that  they  easily  unite  ; 
and  hence  it  is  that  the  Superior  descends  to  the 
Inferior  to  visit  and  comfort  her  in  this  sickly  in- 
fectious habitation." 


CH.  V.]  A  nEEMETIC  PHILOSOPHEK.  91 

This  descent  of  the  superior  to  the  inferior, 
the  reader  can  hardly  fail  to  perceive,  does  not 
refer  to  the  physical  stars,  visible  in  the  heavens. 
He  will  come  nearer  to  the  true  design  of  the 
writer  by   considering  Swedenborg's  point   of 
view,  by  which  man  is  placed,  as  it  were,  in  the 
middle,  between  two  extremes  of  nature  and 
spirit,  communicating  with  both  : — with  the  natu- 
ral world  by  or  through  his  sensuous  nature  (the 
"  outward  "),  and  with  the  celestial  world  by  his 
"  inmost "  nature.     By  stars  is  simply  figured  the 
principles  of  the  superior,  that  is,  the  spiritual 
world.     The  Hermetic  writers  often  refer  to  the 
lovers  of  their  art,  as  seekers  after  stellar  secrets, 
— meaning  heavenly  secrets ; — simply  the  more 
unseen  and  divine  portions  of  the  nature  of  man. 
The  correspondence  of  superiors  with  inferiors 
is  referred  to,  precisely  in  Swedenborg's  sense,  by 
Philalethe  in  Lumen  de  Lumine  in  these  words  : 
"  There  is  not  an  herb  here  below,  but  he  hath  a 
star  [that  is,  a  spiritual  principle]  in  Heaven 
above."     But,  by  above,  is  meant  inward. 

In  the  so  called  spiritual  world,  inward  and 
outward  answers,  to  what  is  called,  in  the  natural 
world,  above  and  below.  And  as  the  inward 
world  has  its  central  principle,  it  is  called  a  sun, 
by  '  similitude '  to  the  visible  sun  as  the  princi- 


92  SWEDENBORG,  [Cn.  V. 

pal  object  of  control  in  the  natural  world.  Yet 
the  student  would  make  a  great  mistake  in  im- 
agining that  this  is  any  thing  but  a  similitude  ; 
for  these  writers,  I  mean  Hermetic  writers,  Swe- 
denborg  included,  are  any  thing  but  materialists. 

In  Swedenborg's  view,  man,  as  he  is  sensu- 
ous, or  according  to  his  sensitive  nature,  is  the 
natural  man  in  St.  Paul's  sense,  and  is  in  the 
lower  or  outer  world :  as  he  is  intellectual,  he  is 
in  the  second  heaven ;  as  he  is  celestial  (angeli- 
cal, as  the  alchemist  would  say),  he  is  in  the 
third  heaven,  that  is,  the  superior  or  inmost 
world, — even  here  in  the  body  ; — for  this  is  the 
doctrine ;  but  in  every  case,  according  to  the 
Divine  Laws  of  "  order,"  which  under  no  circum- 
stances are  ever  violated,  as  they  have  their  ex- 
istence in  the  unchangeable  nature  of  God. 

I  state  this  as  my  understanding  of  Sweden- 
borg's theory,  and  so  far  as  words  can  express 
any  thing  upon  so  difficult  a  subject,  the  theory 
may  be  substantially  found  in  the  Hermetic  writ- 
ings :  the  difference  being  that  Swedenborg  un- 
dertook to  develop  the  doctrine  more  fully  and 
to  write  more  openly  than  any  genuine  Hermetic 
philosopher  has  ever  felt  at  liberty  to  do,  though 
Swedenborg  himself  has  exhibited  his  opinions 
under  a  veil. 


CH.  V.]  A   HEEMETIC   PHILOSOPHER.  93 

Notwithstanding  the  obscurity  of  these  mystic 
writers,  they  contrive  to  suggest  indirectly  their 
subject.  They  discuss  at  large  the  properties  of 
the  magnet,  and  then  show  what  they  intend  by 
comparing  the  magnet  to  man.  Thus  says  one  : 

"  I  may  well  presume  to  compare  the  load- 
stone in  disposition  with  MAN,  considering  the 
admirable  virtues  and  dignity  of  the  one  in  the 
animal  kingdom  ;  and  the  miraculous  operations 
and  mystical  properties  of  the  other  in  the  min- 
eral region.  As  for  MAN,  there  is  such  a  super- 
eminent  and  wonderful  treasure  hidden  in  him, 
that  wise  men  have  esteemed  that  the  perfect 
wisdom  of  this  world  consisteth  in  the  knowledge 
of  a  man's  self,  namely,  to  find  out  that  secret 
mystery  which  doth  lurk  within  him."  [Let  this 
treasure  and  this  mystery  be  supposed  to  be  the 
"  one  thing  "  referred  to  by  Hermes  in  the  Sma- 
ragdine  Table,  or  the  life  of  the  Lord,  as  ex- 
pressed by  Swedenborg,  as  something  really  in, 
but  yet  to  be  discovered  by  the  so-called  natural 
man,  and  the  importance  of  the  subject  will  be 
sufficiently  appreciated.  But  to  resume.]  "For 
man  (says  my  author)  is  said  to  be  the  centre  of 
every  creature,  and  for  that  cause  he  is  called 
microcosmus,  or  the  little  world  ;  centrum  et  mi- 
raculum  mundit  the  centre  or  miracle  of  the 


8WEDENBOEG,  [Cn.  V. 

world,  containing  in  himself  the  properties  of  all 
creatures,  as  well  celestial  as  terrestrial,  and  con- 
sequently of  the  load-stone."  [This  is  the  author's 
mode  of  telling  his  readers  that  what  he  says  of 
the  load-stone  is  to  he  applied  to  MAN.]  "  M'an  is 
(continues  this  writer)  Templum  Dei,  the  Temple 
of  God;  Corpus  Christi,  the  Body  of  Christ ; 
Hdbitaculum  Spiritus  Sancti,  the  Habitation  of 
the  Holy  Ghost,  as  the  apostle  hath  taught  us. 
Neither  verily  may  it  be  imagined,  that  God 
would  make  choice  of  an  unworthy  dwelling- 
place.  And  therefore,  in  the  consideration  there- 
of, and  our  inquiry  after  so  great  a  mystery,  we 
have  need  to  proceed  with  our  exactest  discretion 
and  judgment,  from  the  visible  things  of  man  to 
the  invisible,  that  is,  to  penetrate  with  the  sharp- 
est edge  of  our  wit  by  demonstration,  d  posteriori; 
or  from  the  external  man,  into  the  bowels  of  his 
secret,  mystical  and  internal  being;  wherefore 
we  proceed  thus :  Seeing  that  MAN  is  rightly  re- 
ported by  Hermes  to  be  the  son  of  the  world,  as 
the  world  is  the  Son  of  God,  being  that  it  is 
framed  after  the  image  of  the  Archetype,  for 
which  cause  he  is  termed  the  Little  World,  it  will 
be  requisite  to  understand  that  he  is  in  like  man- 
ner divided  into  a  heaven  and  earth,  as  the  great 
world  was,  and  consequently  containeth  in  itself 


CH.  V.]  A   HERMETIC   PHILOSOPHER.  95 

no  otherwise  his  heavens,  circles,  poles,  and  stars, 
than  the  great  world  doth.  And  also,  as  we  find 
that  the  spiritual  image  of  the  heavens,  with  their 
circles  and  poles,  are  delineated  also  in  the  earth, 
and  every  particular  thereof,  as  it  appeareth  in 
the  load-stone  and  iron,  so  the  character  of  the 
inward  man  is  deciphered  and  portrayed  out  in 
the  outward  man,  no  otherwise  than  we  may 
judge  of  the  fashion  of  the  kernel  by  the  shell." 

This  writer  then  proceeds  to  place  the  true 
pole  of  man  in  the  east,  where  Swedenborg  also 
placed  the  true  north  in  what  he  called  the  spirit- 
ual world.  This  pole  of  man  is  the  "  one  thing," 
the  Lord,  the  life, — the  discovery  of  which  in 
himself  Swedenborg  called  the  opening  of  his  in- 
ternal sight,  and  thence,  in  Hermetic  language, 
he  wrote  of  heaven  and  of  earth  in  the  sense  of 
the  above  writer,  without  going  out  of  himself, 
and  his  writings  will  never  be  properly  under- 
stood except  from  this  point  of  view. 

This  same  writer  expresses  the  very  principle 
of  Swedenborg,  as  follows :  "  There  is  nothing 
in  the  lower  world,  but  hath  his  like  in  the  starry 
world  [meaning  the  spiritual  world],  whose  beams 
and  influences  it  receiveth." 

I  must  now  be  so  candid  as  to  say  that  this 
writer  is  no  other  than  the  much-abused  Robert 


96  SWEDENBOKG,  [CH.  V. 

Fludd,  the  too  open  Hermetic  author  of  a  work, 
the  express  aim  of  which  was  to  prove  that  the 
Mosaical  History  was  "  grounded  upon  the  Essen- 
tial Truth  or  Eternal  Sapience"  published  in 
1659.  The  people  of  his  day  were  not  satisfied 
that  he  should  believe  in  Moses,  but  required  him 
to  believe  in  Moses  as  they  did,  and  upon  their 
grounds,  and  would  not  allow  him  to  point  out 
what  he  deemed  much  higher  and  surer  grounds, 
such  as  might  allow  a  man,  "  while  giving  honor, 
to  retain  his  own  honor."  Swedenborg  is  still 
more  open,  but  he  addressed  what  he  considered 
more  enlightened  times  ;  but  he  too  is  a  Hermetic 
philosopher  nevertheless. 

No  genuine  Hermetic  writer  has  ever  hoped 
to  make  that  clear  to  the  ordinary  and  unassisted 
understanding  of  man,  which  is,  as  they  assert, 
the  express  work  of  the  Spirit  of  God  upon  the 
heart  of  man,  by  which  (as  the  phrase  is)  he  be- 
comes a  "  new  creature."  They  have  the  au- 
thority of  St.  Paul  for  this ;  but  I  may  as  well 
state  at  once  that  conversion,  in  the  sense  of  the 
Hermetic  philosophers,  is  a  rare  spectacle  in  the 
world,  and  is  not  usually  a  product  of  camp-meet- 
ing excitements ;  but  I  should  be  too  bold  if  I 
undertook  to  define  it.  The  nature  of  the  opera- 
tion carries  with  it  what  the  Hermetic  writers 


CH.  V.]  A  HERMETIC   PHILOSOPHER.  97 

call  the  Secretum  Artis,  the  incommunicable  se- 
cret :  on  which  point  I  will  cite  one  or  two  passa- 
ges from  Hermetic  books. 

These  writers  say  that  there  are  three  princi- 
pal stages  or  steps  in  the  progress  of  man  towards 
the  perfection  of  his  nature.  In  the  two  first, 
man  works  or  may  work  co-ordinately  with  na- 
ture ;  that  is,  in  the  development  of  his  sensuous 
and  of  his  intellectual  nature :  but  "  in  the  third 
God  works  alone,"  and  man  can  only  be  a  recipi- 
ent observer.  The  third  and  last  step  man  is  not 
supposed  to  take  by  any  known  natural  power 
proper  to  him  as  an  individual ;  but  he  is  a  pas- 
sive recipient  from  a  power  above  him,  when  in 
a  proper  state  for  "  reception."  This  state  or 
condition,  suitable  for  reception,  does  not  exist  so 
long  as  man  is  devoted  to  things  of  time,  and  in 
love,  not  with  God,  but  with  the  created  things 
of  God.  "  The  world  does  not  know  me,"  says 
the  personified  principle  in  one  of  the  Hermetic 
books,  "  because  it  loves  not  me,  but  mine." 

It  is  a  common  doctrine :  it  is  preached  every 
sabbath  throughout  Christendom,  to  numberless 
inattentive  and  heedless  hearers,  who  are  said  to 
be  heedless  because  they  are  of  the  world,  and 
love  the  things  of  time  before  the  things  of  eter- 
nity. One  main  difference  between  the  ordinary 
5 


98  SWEDENBOEG,  [On.  V. 

teaching  and  that  of  the  Hermetic  philosophers 
is,  that  the  latter  make  no  direct  attempt  to  ex- 
ercise the  prerogative  of  God.  They  say  that  the 
"third  state"  cannot  be  taught,  as  ordinary 
knowledge  is  taught ;  and,  acting  consistently 
with  this  doctrine,  they  do  not  aim  directly  to 
teach  it ;  neither  do  they  allow  that  that  state  it- 
self is  subject  to  the  ordinary  reason  of  man,  who, 
without  the  Light  they  speak  of,  is  wanting  in 
the  very  grounds  of  an  argument  on  the  subject. 
"  Certainly  (says  Philalethe)  I  cannot  yet  con- 
ceive how  reason  may  judge  those  principles, 
quorum  veritas  pendet  d  sola  revelantis  authori- 
tate,  whose  certainty  wholly  depend  on  God,  and 
by  consequence  is  indemonstrable  without  the 
Spirit  of  God.  But  if  I  should  grant  that,  which 
I  will  ever  deny,  verily,  I  shall  still  say,  that  a 
true  faith  consists  not  in  reason,  but  in  love  ;  for 
I  receive  my  principles,  and  believe  them  being 
received,  sola  erga  Revelantem  amore,  only  out 
of  my  affection  to  Him  that  reveals  them.  Thus, 
our  Saviour  would  have  the  Jews  to  believe  him 
first  for  his  own  sake,  and,  when  that  failed,  for 
his  works'  sake ;  but  some  divines  believe,  only 
for  Aristotle's  sake :  if  logic  renders  the  tenet 
probable,  then  it  is  creed ;  if  not,  'tis  Alcoran."  * 

*  For  celestial  angels  do  not  know  what  faith  is  except  it  be 


CH.  V.]  A  HERMETIC   PHILOSOPHER.  99 

By  reason,  in  this  passage,  I  understand,  the 
process  of  reasoning,  which,  simply,  cannot  cre- 
ate its  own  data.  Reasoning  may  be  ever  so  ac- 
curate, considered  as  a  process,  yet  if  its  basis  or 
foundation  be  not  firm, — and  this  the  process  of 
reasoning  cannot  give — the  reasoning  itself  is  but 
a  castle  in  the  air.  The  point  is,  that  there  is 
something  in  man,  truly,  the  divine  in  man — 
which  nevertheless  needs  development — which  is 
not  reasoning,  but  the  principle  of  Reason  itself; 
most  commonly  called/b^A,  yet  something  quite 
different  from  belief. 

Now  tim  faith,  which  is  so  necessary  to  man, 
which  translates  him  into  the  so-called  celestial 
(or  angelical  state),  which  transmutes  his  soul  and 
transports  him  out  of  the  lower  world  into  a 
higher  region,  as  the  doctrine  alleges,  and  which 
cannot  be  attained  by  the  unassisted  will  of  the 
natural  man,  is  the  incommunicable  secret  to 
which  Philalethe  refers  in  the  following  passage, 
to  wit ; — after  indicating  darkly  and  obscurely 
the  external  and  internal  means  deemed  to  be 
necessary  for  placing  a  man  in  the  right  position 
for  receiving  a  blessing  from  above,  he  pro- 
ceeds : 

of  love  ;  and  the  universal  heaven  is  of  love,  no  other  life  being 
existent  in  heaven  but  the  life  of  love. — Heavenly  Arcana,  §  32. 


100  8WEDENBORG,  [Cfl.  V. 

"There  is  nothing  now  behind  but  that  which 
the  Philosophers  call  Secretum  Artis :  a  thing 
that  was  never  published,  and  without  which  you 
will  never  perform,  though  you  know  both  fire 
and  Matter" 

Speaking  of  the  failures  of  Flammel  and  oth- 
ers, for  the  want  of  this  secret,  the  author  brings 
in  an  adept  as  saying  of  his  own  labors  and  stu- 
dies, that,  "  after  the  sixth  year,  I  was  entrusted 
with  the  Key  of  Power  by  secret  Revelation 
from  the  Almighty  God.  This  Key  of  Power 
was  never  put  to  paper  by  any  Philosopher  what- 
ever." 

The  object  of  the  Hermetic  writers  in  these 
obscure  allusions  and  insinuations  is  to  throw  the 
reader  off  from  a  dependence  upon  mere  outward 
teaching  for  a  knowledge  which  is  only  acquired 
through,  as  they  say,  the  alone  Spirit  of  God, 
touching,  as  by  a  divine  fire,  the  heart  of  man. 
Hence  the  designation  of  some  of  these  writers  as 
"Philosophers  by  Fire,"  as  others  are  said  to 
have  been  "  baptized  by  Fire." 

The  same  thing  is  referred  to  in  the  following 
passage : 

"  But  that  we  may  come  at  last  to  the  scope 
proposed :  God  the  Father  is  the  metaphysical, 
snpercelestial  Sun:  The  Second  Person  is  the 


CH,  V.]  A  HERMETIC   PHILOSOPHER.  101 

Light;  and  the  Third  is  Amor  Igneus,  or  a  Di- 
vine Heat  proceeding  from  both.  Now,  without 
the  presence  of  this  Heat,  there  is  no  reception 
of  the  Light,  and  by  consequence  no  influx  from 
the  Father  of  Light." 

This  sounds  so  much  like  Swedenborg,  who 
has  so  much  to  say  of  a  Sun  of  the  spiritual 
world,  and  of  light,  heat,  influx  and  reception, 
that  I  think  it  necessary  to  say  that  I  am  reciting 
this  passage  from  the  Alchemist  Philalethe,  and 
not  from  the  Swedish  Philosopher :  and  will  pro- 
ceed with  the  extract : 

"  For  this  Amor  (says  Philalethe)  is  the  medi- 
um which  unites  the  Lover  to  that  which  is  be- 
loved, and  probably  'tis  the  Platonic's  Daemon 
Magnus,  qui  conjungit  nos  spiritum  prcefecturis. 
I  could  speak  much  more  of  the  offices  of  this 
Loving  Spirit  [Does  not  John  say  that  God  is 
Love  ?~\,  but  these  are  Magnalia  Dei,  et  Natures, 
and  require  not  our  discussion,  so  much  as  our 
reverence.  Here  also  I  might  speak  of  that  Su- 
pernatural generation,  whereof  Trismegistus : 
Monas  gignit  Monaden,  et  in  se  suum  rejlectit 
Ardorem.  BUT  I  LEAVE  THIS  TO  THE  ALMIGHTY 

GOD  AS  HIS  OWN  ESSENTIAL  MYSTERY." 

Surely  these  mystic  Philosophical  Stone  seek- 
ers have  been  strangely  ignored  or  misunderstood 


102  8WEDENBORG,  [OH.  V. 

in  the  world ;  but  sure  I  am  also  that,  in  their 
day,  they  were  despised  and  condemned  only  by 
the  "  younger  sort,"  or  by  the  worldly  minded 
who  needed  a  caution,  to  be  found  in  the  10th 
Book  of  Plato's  Laws. 

That  which  the  Hermetic  Philosophers  call 
the  Secretum  Artis,  or  the  incommunicable  se- 
cret,— the  essential  mystery  of  God,  Swedenborg 
called  the  opening  of  his  internal  sight,  but  with- 
out the  smallest  attempt  at  explanation. 

If  what  is  thus  far  adduced  fails  to  indicate 
the  class  to  which  the  Swede  belonged,  I  should 
be  much  disposed  to  say,  that  none  are  so  blind 
as  those  who  will  not  see.  Yet  I  by  no  means 
intend  to  say  that  Swedenborg  drew  his  doctrines 
entirely  from  the  Hermetic  Philosophers.  Every 
student,  to  some  extent,  depends  necessarily  upon 
the  labors  and  studies  of  his  predecessors,  and  is 
in  some  degree  bound  to  consult  them  and  profit 
by  them ;  but  the  labors  of  fallible  men  do  not 
carry  their  own  key  with  them.  That  must  be 
found  elsewhere,  or  we  read  blindfolded. 

There  is  a  coincidence  between  Swedenborg 
and  the  Alchemists,  which  many  may  think 
merely  accidental  and  unimportant ;  but  I  will 
point  it  out,  since  I  am  upon  the  subject. 

Swedenborg  wrote  a  work  entitled,  "  Outlines 


Cn.  V.]  A  HERMETIC  PHILOSOPHER.  103 

of  a  Philosophical  Argument  on  the  Infinite,"  in 
which  he  speaks  of  the  infinite  and  the  finite  as 
so  opposed  to  each  other  in  their  nature,  that  they 
can  by  no  possibility  unite,  but  by  means  of  a 
third  something,  which  he  calls  a  "Nexus."  By 
this  theory  he  thus  prepares  himself  to  receive 
the  doctrine  of  the  Divine-human,  the  God-man, 
that  is,  Jesus  Christ,  as  that  tuxus,  or  means,  in 
short,  of  uniting  God  and  man. 

It  is  unnecessary  to  state  this  more  in  detail, 
as  the  work  of  Swedenborg  may  easily  be  had 
and  consulted  by  those  who  choose. 

In  a  Hermetic  volume  by  Cambachius,  enti- 
tled Sal,  Lumen  et  Spiritus  Miindi  PhUosophici : 
or,  the  Dawning  of  the  Day,  &c.,  published  in 
English  in  165T,  the  author  commences  the  sec- 
ond chapter  thus : 

"  The  body  of  the  world  lies  open  to  our  sen- 
ses, but  its  spirit  lies  hid  ;  and  in  the  spirit  its 
soul,  which  cannot  be  united  to  its  body,  but  by 
the  mediation  of  its  spirit ;  for  the  body  is  gross, 
but  the  soul  is  subtle,  far  removed  from  all  cor- 
poreal qualities.  For  the  union  of  these  two,  we 
must  find  some  third,  participating  in  both  na- 
tures, which  must  be,  as  it  were,  a  corporeal 
spirit,  because  the  extremes  cannot  be  conjoined 
without  an  intervenient  ligament,  that  hath  aflin- 


104:  8WEDENBOKG,  [CH.  V. 

ity  with  both.  The  heaven,  we  see,  is  high,  the 
earth  low  ;  the  one  pure,  the  other  corrupt :  how 
then  shall  we  exalt  this  impure  corruption,  and 
conjoin  it  with  that  active  purity  without  a  mean? 
God,  we  know,  is  infinitely  pure  and  clean ;  man 
extremely  impure,  and  defiled  with  sins.  Now 
these  could  never  have  been  conjoined  and  rec- 
onciled, but  by  the  mediation  of  Christ  Jesus 
God-man,  that  true  attractive  glue  of  both  na- 
tures," &c. 

In  the  statement  of  the  doctrine,  the  alche- 
mist may  seem  to  have  the  advantage,  by  avoid- 
ing the  express  use  of  the  word  finite  in  reference 
to  man  ;  and  Swedenborg  might  be  asked  how, 
upon  his  theory,  his  Nexus,  if  either  infinite  or 
finite,  can  instrurnentally  unite  the  two  extremes, 
absolutely  opposed  to  each  other  in  their  natures, 
by  supposition.  For  if  the  Nexus  be  finite,  it 
cannot  unite  with  the  infinite,  and  if  infinite,  it 
cannot  unite  with  the  finite,  and  would  thus  fail 
to  answer  the  demand  of  the  theory. 

"With  the  terms  Spirit  and  Body,  the  difficulty 
does  not  appear  to  be  so  great,  while  we  have, 
in  fact,  a  palpable  instance  of  their  union  as  we 
suppose  in  Man,  bespeaking  therefore  the  theo- 
retic possibility  of  a  god-man, — called  the  LOKD 
throughout  Swedenborg's  writings. 


CH.  V.]  A   HERMETIC   PHILOSOPHER.  105 

I  will  here  add  one  or  two  minor  points,  to 
establish  a  connection  between  Swedenborg  and 
the  alchemists,  drawn,  I  admit,  from  bare  allu- 
sions, which  however  are  to  my  mind  very  de- 
cided, to  wit : 

In  Swedenborg's  Angelic  Wisdom  concern- 
ing Divine  Providence,  I  find  the  following 
paragraph : 

"  36.  The  wisdom  which  comes  to  perception, 
is  the  perception  of  truth  from  the  iove  of  it, 
especially  the  love  of  spiritual  truth  ;  for  there  is 
civil  truth,  moral  truth,  and  spiritual  truth  :  those 
who  are  in  the  perception  of  spiritual  truth  from 
the  love  of  it,  are  also  in  the  perception  of  moral 
and  civil  truth ;  for  the  love  of  spiritual  truth  is 
the  soul  of  the  latter.  I  have  sometimes  spoken 
with  the  angels  concerning  wisdom,  who  said 
that  wisdom  is  conjunction  with  the  Lord,  be- 
cause the  Lord  is  wisdom  itself;  and  that  he 
comes  into  that  conjunction  who  rejects  hell 
from  himself,  and  so  far  into  it  as  he  rejects: 
they  said  that  they  represent  wisdom  to  them- 
selves as  a  magnificent  and  most  highly  furnished 
Palace,  into  which  one  ascends  by  Twelve  Steps  ; 
and  that  no  one  comes  to  the  first  step,  except 
from  the  Lord  by  conjunction  with  Him ;  and 
that  every  one  ascends  according  to  conjunction ; 


SWEDENBOKG,  [Cn.  V. 

and  that  as  lie  ascends  he  perceives  that  no  one 
is  wise  from  himself,  but  from  the  Lord ;  also 
that  the  things  upon  which  he  is  wise,  compared 
with  the  things  upon  which  he  is  not  wise,  are 
as  a  few  drops  to  a  great  lake.  By  the  twelve 
steps  to  the  Palace  of  Wisdom  are  signified 
goods  conjoined  to  truths,  and  truths  conjoined 
to  goods." 

Before  pointing  out  to  what  the  allusions  in 
the  above  paragraph  refer,  I  think  it  necessary 
to  say,  that  Swedenborg  considered  man,  as  to 
his  internal  nature  or  spirit,  as  in  the  spiritual 
world,  his  outward  nature  or  form  being  in  the 
natural  world,  and  hence  man  is  said  to  be  in  the 
spiritual  world,  not  figuratively  but  literally. 
In  keeping  with  this,  I  read  in  Philalethe  : 

"  I  look  upon  this  life  as  the  progress  of  an 
Essence  Royal :  The  soul  but  quits  her  court  to 
see  the  country.  Heaven  hath  in  it  a  scene  of 
Earth  •  and  had  she  been  contented  with  ideas, 
she  had  not  travelled  beyond  the  map.  But  ex- 
cellent patterns  commend  their  mimes.  Nature 
that  was  so  fair  in  the  type,  could  not  be  a  slut 
in  the  anaglyph.  This  makes  her  ramlle  hither 
to  examine  the  medal  by  the  flask,  but  while  she 
scans  their  symmetry,  she  forms  it.  [The  reader 
is  requested  to  remember  here,  that  Swedenborg 


CH.  V.]  A   HERMETIC   PHILOSOPHER.  107 

speaks  of  the  body  as  an  organ  of  and.  formed  by 
the  soul.]  Thus  (continues  Philalethe)  her  de- 
scent speaks  her  original :  God  in  love  with  His 
own  beauty  frames  a  glass  to  view  it  by  reflec- 
tion •  but  the  frailty  of  the  matter  excluding 
eternity,  the  composure  was  subject  to  dissolu- 
tion. Ignorance  gave  this  release  the  name  of 
death,  but  properly  it  is  the  soul's  birth,  and  a 
charter  that  makes  for  her  liberty :  She  hath 
several  ways  to  break  up  house,  but  her  best  is 
without  a  disease.  This  is  her  mystical  walk, 
an  exit  only  to  return." 

Upon  this  view  it  is,  that  man  is  said  to  be, 
by  Swedenborg,  or  according  to  his  doctrine,  in 
Heaven  or  in  Hell,  or  between  these  as  two  ex- 
tremes, as  to  his  spirit,  and  according  to  the  state 
of  his  spirit.  Heaven  and  Hell,  in  Swedenborg's 
sense,  are  not  places  but  states ;  that  is,  states  of 
the  spirit  of  the  man  who  is  the  subject,  of  whom 
Heaven  and  Hell  are  predicated;  Heaven  and 
Hell,  in  fact,  having  no  existence  but  in  relation 
to  man. 

Now,  all  the  ideas  a  man  may  have  are  said 
to  be  in  the  spiritual  world;  or,  it  may  be 
said,  that  he  who  understands  the  truth  of  his 
own  nature,  knows  that  by,  or  through,  or  in  his 
ideas  he  is  in  communication  with,  or  rather  is 


108  SWEDENBORG,  [CH.  V. 

in,  the  spiritual  world,  and  so  far  as  he  has  ideas 
he  sees  into  the  spiritual  world. 

When  these  ideas  bring  into  his  presence  the 
members  of  a  certain  "  society,"  referred  to  by 
Swedenborg  in  many  places, — meaning  perfected 
men,  or,  in  other  words,  regenerate  men, — the 
man,  if  a  (mystical)  member  of  that  society  him- 
self, is  said  to  be  in  communication  with  angels  ; 
and  whatever  is  thought  in  the  view  of  such  men 
is  called  a  conversation  in  the  spiritual  world. 

This  is  the  precise  ground  of  Swedenborg's 
memorable  relations,  which  are  nothing  in  the 
world  but  his  individual  opinions  of  men  and 
things  under  a  slight  veil,  and  this  is  entirely  in 
accordance  with  the  spirit  (?)  of  Swedenborg's 
own  statements,  made  apparently  to  guide  his 
reader  in  understanding  him. 

To  return  now  to  the  paragraph  cited  from 
Swedenborg : — he  tells  us  that  he  has  spoken 
with  angels  concerning  Wisdom, — of  their  speak- 
ing of  it  as  a  Palace, — and,  finally,  of  twelve  steps 
leading  to  it. 

If  Swedenborg  had  explained  his  own  mean- 
ing, we  should  have  been  bound  to  accept,  so  far 
as  he  is  concerned,  his  own  explanations,  but  he 
has  merely  told  us  that  the  first  step  is  taken  by 
man  "  from  the  Lord,"  and  that  all  of  the  other 


CH.  V.]  A   HERMETIC   PHILOSOPHER.  109 

steps  are  taken  by  "  conjunction  with  the  Lord." 
The  mysticism  would  have  been  removed,  by  the 
way,  if  he  had  said,  that  the  steps  are  taken  by  a 
strict  adherence  to  the  truth,  which  he  does 
indeed,  substantially  say  in  the  same  para- 
graph. 

But  to  what  did  he  refer  in  this  allusion  to 
angels,  to  a  Palace,  and  to  twelve  steps  leading 
to  it? 

•  I  answer,  without  the  slightest  suspicion  of 
error,  that  the  angel  who  spoke  to  him  of  a  Pal- 
ace was  no  other  than  the  alchemist  Cosmopolita, 
who  left  a  work  behind  him  entitled,  "  An  open 
entrance  to  the  shut  PALACE  of  the  KING  ; "  or,  in 
other  words,  to  a  knowledge  of  the  wisdom  of 
God.  He  spoke  to  Swedenborg  through  his 
book. 

And  the  twelve  steps  is  an  allusion  to  one  or 
both  of  two  of  the  most  noted  Alchemic  or  Her- 
metic books  extant;  one  by  the  Monk  George 
Kipley,  and  the  other  by  a  monk  also,  Basil  Yal- 
entine.  Bipley's  work  is  entitled,  "  The  com- 
pound of  Alchemy,  or  the  ancient  hidden  Art  of 
Alchemy  :  containing  the  right  and  most  perfect 
means  to  make  the  Philosopher's  Stone,  and  Ait- 
rum  Potabile,  with  other  excellent  experiments. 
Divided  into  TWELVE  GATES."  This  work  was 


110  SWEDENBOKG,  [Cn.  V. 

written  in  the  reign  of  King  Edward  the  Fourth, 
and  was  dedicated  to  him. 

Basil  Valentine's  work  was  published  in  Eng- 
lish in  1670.  I  know  not  when  it  was  written. 
It  is  entitled,  "  A  Practical  Treatise,  together  with 
the  TWELVE  KEYS  and  Appendix,  of  the  Great 
Stone  of  the  Ancient  Philosophers" 

These  Twelve  Gates,  and  Twelve  Keys,  are 
the  TWELVE  STEPS  to  the  PALACE;  that  is,  to  a 
knowledge  of  the  wisdom  of  God ; — to  that  wis- 
dom, be  it  remembered,  which  is  whispered  by 
the  Spirit  of  God  to  the  loving  soul  that  ap- 
proaches his  infinite  presence  in  humility. 

The  sharpest  eye  will  detect  nothing  in  the 
writings  of  Sw^denborg,  voluminous  as  they  are, 
in  contradiction  to  any  thing  here  advanced,  in 
explanation  of  his  mystical  mode  of  writing. 

One  of  the  properties — one  of  the  boasted  or 
pretended  properties,  it  may  be, — of  the  Philoso- 
pher's Stone,  is  to  confer  youth  upon  the  aged  : 
it  not  only  gives  inexhaustible  wealth,  but  insures 
perpetual  youth.  Here  I  find  another  and  a  de- 
cided point  of  connection  between  Swedenborg 
and  the  Alchemists  ;  and,  as  the  Hermetic  writ- 
ers say  that  "  one  book  openeth  another,"  the 
readers  of  Swedenborg's  writings  may  possibly 
be  in  the  best  position,  if  they  understand  his 


CH.  V.]  A  HERMETIC  PHILOSOPHER.  Ill 

writings,  for  interpreting  the  paradoxes  of  the 
still  more  obscure  writers. 

In  paragraph  414  of  the  work  on  Heaven  and 
Hell,  Swedenborg  says,  that  "to  grow  old  in 
Heaven  is  to  grow  young."  The  angels  of  Swe- 
denborg, then,  must  be  considered  as  in  posses- 
sion of  the  Philosopher's  Stone. 

Throwing  aside  all  studied  obscurity,  what  is 
the  meaning  of  this  ?  Swedenborg  says  that  the 
love  of  man  is  his  very  life  ;  and,  as  is  the  love, 
so  is  the  life.  Now  man  is  in  the  midst  between, 
as  it  were,  God  and  the  world,  the  one  eternal, 
the  other  perishable.  If  we  consider  this  theo- 
retically, we  may  suppose  that  the  love  which  is 
directed  to  the  eternal  may  share  its  perennial 
nature,  that  is,  a  man  in  this  love  enjoys  perpet- 
ual youth, — not  in  his  body  indeed,  for  this  is  of 
the  world  and  must  perish,  but  in  his  spiritual 
nature.  But  to  love  the  perishable,  or  in  other 
words  the  world,  is  to  live  in  a  succession  of  dis- 
appointments, since  the  objects  of  love  are  per- 
petually perishing,  and  to  live  in  this  state  is  to 
grow  old  indeed,  not  merely  in  years,  but  in 
cares. 

Are  we  then  to  abandon  the  world,  in  order 
to  attain  this  state  ?  Not  so :  this  is  a  long-since 
exploded  doctrine,  and  we  know  now  that  God  is 


112  8WEDENBOKG,  [Gil.  V. 

not  to  be  loved  and  served  by  withdrawing  from 
the  world  and  living  as  hermits,  but  by  living  in 
the  world  and  attaining  that  middle  point,  so  dif- 
ficult to  see  and  understand, — of  "loving  the 
world  as  not  loving  it,"  or  of  using  the  world  as 
not  abusing  it,  1  Cor.  vii.  30,  31.  The  difficulty 
of  the  discovery  may  be  great ;  but,  when  made, 
it  may  be  the  finding  of  the  Philosopher's  Stone, 
and  prove  that  Swedenborg  thought  himself  in 
possession  of  it,  under  the  sense  of  the  opening  of 
his  internal  sight,  which  was  to  him  the  secretum 
artis  of  the  Alchemists. 

I  do  not  regard  the  opinion  of  Hermetic  writ- 
ers on  the  subject  of  creation  as  belonging  to 
their  peculiar  doctrines,  but  on  this  point  also 
Swedenborg  and  the  Hermetic  philosophers  oc- 
cupy the  same  ground.  Swedenborg  says  that 
God  created  the  world  "out  of  [a]  substance 
which  is  substance  in  itself ; "  but  as  he  says  that 
substance  in  itself  is  God,  his  doctrine  is  plain 
from  this  alone,  and  there  is  no  question  that  his 
opinion  was  that  God  created  or  made  the  world, 
not  from  nothing,  but  from  Himself.  His  fol- 
lowers contend  strongly  for  this  opinion,  and 
earnestly  defend  it  against  the  charge  of  Pan- 
theism. 

On  this  point  the  younger   Van   Helmont 


CH.  V.]  A   HERMETIC   PHILOSOPHER.  113 

expresses  himself  as  follows,  in  the  form  of  a 
Query : 

"Seeing  then  that  Man,  the  Little  World, 
being  created  by  God,  must  come  to  such  a  state, 
wherein  continually  without  ceasing  he  may  be 
melioriated,  and  raised  from  one  degree  of  glory 
to  another,  and  so  become  still  more  and  more 
God-like,  (if  I  may  so  speak,)  or  be  incessantly 
advanced; — because,  by  this  continual  revolu- 
tion and  glorification,  he  still  comes  nearer  to 
God,  and  yet  can  never  come  to  an  end  of  his 
approaches,  (forasmuch  as  in  God  there  is  neither 
beginning  nor  end,)  but  this  melioration  and 
glorification  must  continue  without  end  : 

"  "Will  it  not  follow  from  hence,  that  Man,  as 
being  a  compendium  of  all  the  creatures  of  God, 
hath  had  no  absolute,  though  a  respective  be- 
ginning ; — because,  if  otherwise,  they  must  also 
have  an  end :  and  because  also,  that,  if  they  have 
a  beginning,  before  the  same,  they  were  not, 
and  consequently  that  they  sprang  and  came  of 
nothing?  Now,  seeing  this  cannot  be,  because 
by  this  means,  a  NOTHING  must  be  conceived  to 
be  in  God ;  whereas  indeed  He  is  the  Eternal 
Being  of  all  beings,  blessed  for  ever  1 

"  They  indeed,  (continues  Yan  Helmont, 
speaking  openly  on  this  point,)  who  imagine  to 


8WEDENBORG,  [CH.  V. 

themselves  a  creaturely  God,  and  according  to 
their  gross  conceptions,  or  their  outward  senses, 
shut  up  God  in  a  determinate  place  or  circum- 
ference, consistently  with  this  their  imagination, 
must  suppose  that  a  NOTHING  (which  neither  is, 
nor  can  be  conceived  of,  or  comprehended  by 
themselves  or  others)  before  the  creation  of  the 
world,  did  exist  together  with  God.  For  what- 
soever is  beyond  the  bound  which  they  have  set 
themselves,  that  they  call  a  NOTHING.  Or  else 
they  must  assert  that  God  made  a  NOTHING  out 
of  which  he  afterwards  created  all  things ;  which 
is  a  contradiction,  because  a  NOTHING  cannot  be 
made,  for  whatsoever  is  made  or  is,  must  be  some- 
thing. Moreover,  according  to  this  assertion 
God  must  have  made  himself  to  a  NOTHING  (be- 
cause there  was  nothing  then  but  God)  which  is 
very  absurd." 

I  will  just  remark,  in  passing,  that  Plato  en- 
deavors to  show,  in  the  Sophist,  that  we  can- 
not conceive  of  NOTHING,  the  idea  of  which  is 
formed  (he  says)  by  first  necessarily  conceiving 
something,  and  then  mentally  negating  or  deny- 
ing it ;  so  that  in  the  idea  of  NOTHING  there  is 
always  the  idea  of  something. 

I  cannot  suppose  that  the  opinions  I  have 


CH.  V.]  A   HERMETIC   PHILOSOPHER.  115 

thus  far  expressed  of  Swedenborg  will  be  favora- 
bly received  by  those  who,  upon  full  considera- 
tion, as  they  believe,  have  adopted  an  opinion  of 
him  and  his  writings  implying  a  special  illumina- 
tion in  his  case,  inaccessible  to  other  men ;  but 
these  views  will  not  offend  the  class  of  men  re- 
ferred to  by  Swedenborg  himself,  in  a  letter  of 
the  15th  of  July,  1771,  to  the  Landgrave  of 
Hesse-Darmstadt,  to  whom  he  sent  a  copy  of  his 
True  Christian  Religion,  requesting  that  those 
only  might  be  selected  to  judge  of  it,  "  who  love 
the  truth,  and  who  love  it  only  because  it  is 
truth."  "  If  you  take  others  (says  he)  they  will 
see  in  this  work  no  light  but  only  darkness." 

Everywhere  in  Swedenborg's  writings  appeal 
is  made  to  a  love  of  the  truth,  for  the  sake  of  the 
truth  alone,  as  the  proper  pre-requisite  in  him 
who  would  sit  in  judgment  upon  the  truth.  He 
makes  no  appeal  to  the  passions  and  denies  that 
there  were  any  miraculous  interpositions  in  his 
day. 

For  my  own  part  I  find  no  insuperable  diffi- 
culty in  understanding  Swedenborg's  writings,  at 
least  to  as  great  an  extent  as  can  be  to  any  use  or 
benefit  in  life.  For  this  purpose  I  need  but  one 
liberty,  a  liberty  to  which  he  could  take  no  ex- 
ception were  he  living,  and  to  which  his  follow- 


116  SWEDENBORG,  [On.  V. 

ers  have  no  right  to  take  any  exception.  One 
single  liberty  alone  is  required,  and  Swedenborg's 
writings  will  be  brought  within  the  field  of  natu- 
ral comprehension,  and  they  will  be  found  full 
of  truth  and  wisdom, — of  love  to  God  and  charity 
to  all  mankind ; — so  full  of  wisdom  as  to  place 
their  author  among  the  foremost  lights  of  the 
world,  though  shining  in  darkness.  And  what  is 
that  liberty  ?  It  is  simply  the  privilege  of  em- 
ploying the  rule  of  interpretation  upon  his  writ- 
ings which  he  employed  upon  the  sacred  Scrip- 
ture ; — the  privilege  of  measurably  disregarding 
the  letter  and  looking  to  the  spirit  for  the  sense 
of  what  he  wrote. 

I  say  that  Swedenborg  was  a  Hermetic  Phi- 
losopher, and  purposely  wrote  obscurely ;  and 
that  he  was  not  in  a  dream,  but  in  a  state  of  per- 
fect "  wakefulness," — to  use  his  own  language. 


CH.  VI.]  A   HERMETIC   PHILOSOPHER.  117 


CHAPTEE    VI. 

THE  zealous  friends  of  the  Swedish  philoso- 
pher, without  much  judgment  as  it  appears  to 
me,  have  collected  a  considerable  body  of  tradi- 
tions, called  "  documents  concerning  Sweden- 
borg," — published  in  New  York  in  1847, — calcu- 
lated, if  to  be  relied  upon,  to  take  him  out  of  the 
pale  of  humanity ;  but  among  all  those  stories  I 
see  nothing  to  impress  me  through  my  marvel 
faculty,  while  some  of  his  acknowledged  letters 
and  declarations  explicitly  deny  all  miraculous 
intervention  in  his  case,  the  opening  of  his  inter- 
nal sight  not  being  a  special  miracle  in  his  favor, 
but  an  experience  possible  for  other  men, — no 
doubt  of  an  extraordinary  character. 

In  a  letter  to  Dr.  Oetinger  (Nov.  11,  1766), 
he  gives  reasons  why  no  miracles  need  be  expect- 
ed in  his  day,  to  wit,  that  miracles  only  "  con- 
vince an  outward  belief,"  which,  according  to 
Swedenborg's  theory,  is  not  efficacious  in  salva- 


118  SWEDENBORG,  [On.  VI. 

tion.  He  might  have  urged  that  there  is  no 
necessary  connection  between  the  exercise  of 
power  and  the  truth  of  a  doctrine. 

He  further  tells  Dr.  Oetinger,  in  the  same 
letter,  that  he  had  been  chosen  from  a  philosopher 
to  the  office  of  a  teacher,  "  to  the  end,  that  the 
spiritual  knowledge,"  revealed  in  his  day,  "  might 
be  reasonably  learned  and  rationally  understood," 
— a  plain  declaration,  surely,  that  he  appealed 
only  to  our  natural  faculties,  and  laid  no  tax  upon 
our  mere  credulity. 

Yet  he  uses  some  strange  language  in  this 
same  letter  :  He  says,  for  example,  in  answer  to 
a  question  proposed  by  Dr.  Oetinger,  as  to 
whether  he  had  "spoken  with  the  Apostles," 
that  he  had  "  spoken  one  whole  year  with  Paul, 
and  also  of  what  is  mentioned  in  the  Epistle  to 
the  Romans,  3.  28.  I  have  spoken  (he  continues) 
three  times  with  John,  once  with  Moses,  and  I 
suppose  a  hundred  times  with  Luther,  who  owned 
to  me  that,  contrary  to  the  warning  of  an  angel, 
he  had  received  the  doctrine  of  salvation  by  faith 
alone,  merely  with  the  intent  that  he  might  make 
an  entire  separation  from  Popery.  But  with  an- 
gels (he  goes  on  to  say)  I  have  conversed  these 
twenty-two  years,  and  daily  continue  to  do  so." 

How  are  we  to  understand  these  declarations  ? 


CH.  VI]  A   HERMETIC   PHILOSOPHER.  119 

Certainly,  for  this  purpose,  we  cannot  adopt  a 
more  ready  or  secure  plan  than  to  follow  the  ex- 
ample of  Swedenborg  himself,  and  seek  him  in 
the  spiritual  world,  and  obtain  satisfaction  from 
himself. 

That  this  may  be  done  without  much  diffi- 
culty, I  have  it  fortunately  in  my  power  to  show, 
in  the  clearest  manner,  having  conversed  with 
Swedenborg  myself  in  the  spiritual  world,  and  it 
is  only  necessary  for  me  to  "  relate  "  the  particu- 
lars of  what  passed  between  us.  I  have  in  fact 
had  not  merely  one  conversation  with  him,  but 
have  met  him  many  times,  and  have  questioned 
him  very  closely ;  and  although  there  are  some 
few  points  on  which  he  has  shown  very  little  dis- 
position to  be  communicative,  yet,  on  the  whole, 
I  have  much  reason  to  be  thankful  for  full  expla- 
nations on  other  points. 

I  was  chiefly  induced  to  make  the  acquaint- 
ance of  Swedenborg  by  certain  encomiums  upon 
him  by  his  friend  Mr.  Wilkinson,  whom  I  met 
in  the  spiritual  world  also,  some  twelve  or  thir- 
teen years  ago,  and  who,  in  fact,  introduced  Swe- 
denborg to  me.  The  philosopher  had  a  veil  over 
his  face,  and  it  was  some  time  before  I  could  ob- 
tain a  clear  view  of  his  features.  At  length, 
however,  I  could  see  that  this  veil  became  less 


SWEDENBOKG,  [On.  VI. 

and  less  opaque,  until  finally  it  was  almost  trans- 
parent, which  he  explained  to  me  by  say  ing  that 
he  was  not  in  the  habit  of  allowing  every  one  to 
see  his  face,  but  only  those  who  sought  his  ac- 
quaintance from  a  pure  regard  for  the  truth,  and 
not  from  idle  curiosity.  He  tells  me  that  he 
never  makes  himself  known  to  those  who  seek  his 
acquaintance  with  any  sinister  purpose,  and  not 
even  to  those  whose  chief  desire  is  to  get  to 
heaven ;  for  he  assures  me  that  the  way  to  truth 
is  not  through  heaven,  but  contrarily  the  way  to 
heaven  is  through  the  love  of  truth.  He  says 
this  is  the  only  thing  valued  in  heaven,  and  that 
no  one  is  admitted  there  who  is  without  it.  I 
have  spoken  with  him  several  times  with  regard 
to  his  letter  to  Dr.  Oetinger,  and  he  has  "  owned" 
to  me  that,  in  what  he  says  in  that  letter  of  hav- 
ing spoken  with  Paul,  he  merely  meant  that  he 
had  studied  Paul's  epistles  for  a  whole  year: 
that,  in  what  he  says  of  Luther,  he  only  intended 
to  express  an  opinion,  derived  from  the  study  of 
Luther's  works,  and  from  a  consideration  of  the 
relations  he  held  to  the  church  of  Rome,  and  to 
the  time  in  which  he  lived. 

As  to  what  he  says  in  that  letter  of  talking 
with  angels,  he  assures  me  that,  when  in  the 
world,  he  belonged  to  a  "  Society  wherein  things 


CH.  VI.]  A  HERMETIC  PHILOSOPHEK.  121 

relating  to  heaven  and  to  the  soul  were  the  only 
subjects  of  discourse  and  entertainment"  [see 
Swedenborg's  own  account  of  himself,  1769] ;  that 
lie  referred  to  the  members  of  that  society  as  an- 
gels, because  of  the  innocency,  simplicity,  and 
truthfulness  of  their  lives.  He  further  assures 
me,  that  in  all  of  his  writings  he  has  endeavored 
to  set  forth  the  love  of  truth^for  the  sake  of  the 
truth,  as  the  true  test  of  knowledge;  and  he 
seemed  very  confident  that  those  who  have  that 
love  of  truth  will  understand  his  writings  with- 
out serious  difficulty. — [Concluding paragraph  of 
Heaven  and  Hell^\ 

He  referred  me  to  many  declarations  in  the 
course  of  his  work  on  Heaven  and  Hell,  and  else- 
where, to  prove  that  by  Angels  he  merely  meant 
regenerate  men,  who  have  forsaken,  not  their  du- 
ties in  the  world,  which  are  never  to  be  neglected, 
but  the  love  of  the  world,  and  who  have  vowed  a 
life  of  perfect  innocency  before  God  and  man. 
He  has  told  me — and  this  may  surprise  some  of 
his  followers — that  he  had  some  difficulty  with 
himself  in  selecting  the  title  for  his  work  on 
Heaven  and  Hell ;  that  he  thought  of  calling  it  a 
work  on  the  Happiness  and  Misery  of  Man  ;  but 
as  he  reflected  that  such  ordinary  expressions 


6 


122  SWEDENBOKG,  [On.  VI, 

would  not  be  likely  to  arrest  attention,  lie  adopted 
the  other,  which  means  the  same  thing. 

He  has  explained  to  me,  that  his  memorable 
relations,  to  be  found  in  two  or  three  of  his  works, 
were  only  introduced  because  he  thought  that 
such  "  remarkable  particulars  "  might  "  probably 
excite  the  reader  to  their  first  perusal."  [Letter 
to  the  Swedish  Ambassador,  without  date,  page 
166  of  the  Documents.'] 

I  told  him  that  a  great  many  stories  had  been 
put  in  circulation  about  him,  supposed  to  show 
that  he  had  miraculous  powers  ;  but  he  assured 
me  that  nearly  all  of  them  are  "  fictions "  in- 
vented by  "  foolish  novelists,"  [Letter  to  the 
Landgrave  of  Hesse  Darmstadt,  July  1577],  and, 
as  to  those  that  are  true,  they  should  "  not  be  re- 
garded as  miracles."  [Same  Letter,  and  also  Let- 
ter to  M.  Yenator,  July  13,  1771.] 

I  asked  him  in  one  of  our  conversations,  how 
he  came  to  use  so  strange  a  mode  of  writing, — 
by  which,  said  I,  many  people  have  been  de- 
ceived ; — he  answered  by  saying, — that  they  are 
not  deceived  as  to  doctrine,  which  every  man 
must  receive  upon  his  own  conscience,  and  not 
upon  the  conscience  of  another  :  and  that  such  a 
mode  of  writing  has  been  in  use  among  wise  men 
from  the  earliest  period  of  time,  of  which  fact  he 


CH.  VL]  A  HEBMETIC  PHILOSOPHEE.  123 

said  he  had  taken  especial  care  to  warn  his  read- 
ers again  and  again  in  his  writings,  on  purpose  to 
guard  against  being  understood  literally. 

I  told  him  I  thought  it  doubtful  whether  he 
would  be  held  excusable  for  adopting  the  form 
of  writing  he  had  used : — upon  which  he  looked 
very  grave,  and  said  that  he  hoped  no  one  would 
be  injured  by  any  thing  he  left  behind  him  in  the 
world ;  that  his  purpose  was  always  to  serve  and 
benefit  mankind  ;  that,  as  he  himself  had  not  de- 
pended upon  a  literal  reading,  even  of  the  Scrip- 
tures, he  could  not  imagine  that  any  one  would 
lean  upon  the  literal  sense  of  his  writings,  and 
forego  the  practice  of  charity,  which  he  had  taken 
so  much  pains  to  inculcate.  He  referred  me  to 
the  concluding  paragraph  of  his  Letter  to  M. 
Yenator,  where  I  find  he  says  that — "  Every  trutli 
in  the  word  shines  in  Heaven ;  and  comes  down 
from  thence  into  this  world,  to  those  who  love 
truth  because  it  is  truth;  "  and  he  said  that  by 
the  use  of  the  word  those  he  intended  to  include 
all  men  who  love  truth  for  the  sake  of  truth,  and 
not  from  the  hope  of  reward  ; — adding  that  truth 
is  its  own  evidence  in  the  same  sense  as  that  vir- 
tue is  its  own  reward ;  and  that  neither  the  one 
nor  the  other  can  be  possessed  but  by  a  life  of 
truth  and  charity. 


124  SWEDENBOKG,  [Cfi.  VI. 


He  then  came  close  to  me,  and  whispered 
something  into  my  ear ; — upon  which  I  told  him 
that  I  thought  he  was  right,  or,  at  all  events,  that 
as  he  thought  himself  so,  it  was  sufficient  for  me. 

In  one  of  our  last  conversations,  I  asked  him 
how  he  came  to  write  that  little  work  which  he 
called  Earths  in  the  Universe.  He  asked  me  if 
what  he  said  there  of  different  kinds  of  men,  call- 
ing them  Earths,  having  certain  predominant 
characteristics,  was  not  true  ;  and  whether  it  was 
not  as  easy  to  locate  a  representation  of  human 
character  in  Mars  or  Jupiter — in  Yenus  or  Mer- 
cury, as  in  London  or  Paris,  in  Amsterdam  or 
Stockholm?  He  reminded  me  that  man,  as  to 
life,  is  a  spirit,  but,  as  to  body,  an  earth.  I  then 
remembered  that  the  Alchemists  designated  dif- 
ferent sorts  of  men  sometimes  by  metals,  as  gold, 
silver,  lead,  &c.,  and  sometimes  by  planets,  as 
by  the  Sun,  Moon,  Mercury,  Venus,  Saturn,  &c., 
and  I  desisted  from  asking  any  further  questions 
at  that  time.* 

*  The  compiler  of  a  Compendium  of  the  Theological  and  Spir- 
itual Writings  of  Emanuel  Swedenborg,  published  by  Crosby  & 
Nichols  and  Otis  Clap  &  Co.,  1854,  calls  attention  in  a  note,  page 
68,  to  what  appeared  a  remarkable  fact ;  that,  as  a  scientific 
writer,  Swedenborg  knew  there  were  more  than  seven  planets  ; 
but  when,  afterwards,  his  spiritual  sight  was  opened,  he  speaks 
of  only  seven.  The  explanation  of  this  is  the  fact,  that  the  Al- 


CH.  VI.]  A   HEKMETIC   PHILOSOPHEK.  125 

It  may  be  observed  that  Plato  speaks  of  two 
sorts  of  men,  hard  to  be  discerned  by  the  gene- 
rality of  mankind,  because  they  occupy  extremes, 
one  living  in  darkness  and  the  other  in  light ; 
meaning  simply  that  the  generality  of  men  are 
of  a  mixed  nature,  not  very  good  and  not  very 

chemists  used  the  planets  as  symbols  only ;  they  did  not  use 
them  astronomically.  They  placed  the  sun  in  the  midst,  with  an 
equal  number  of  planets  on  each  side,  to  exhibit,  for  their  pur- 
pose, a  certain  equilibrium  ;  which  Swedenborg  also  speaks  of, 
especially  at  the  close  of  his  Treatise  on  Heaven  and  Hell.  If 
the  reader  has  a  perfect  copy  of  Sir  George  Ripley's  Compound 
of  Alchemy,  he  may  observe  at  the  end  a  plate  or  diagram  of  the 
Alchemic  scheme,  such  as  was  without  doubt  in  the  mind  of  Swe- 
denborg. He  was  not  writing  of  science.  Most  of  the  Alchemic 
writers  refer  to  these  seven  planets,  the  author  of  the  New  Light 
of  Alchemy  (9th  Treatise),  somewhat  minutely,  arranging  them 
first  in  the  following  order,  to  wit ;  Saturn,  Jupiter,  Mars,  the 
SUN,  Venus,  Mercury,  and  the  Moon.  The  author  then  proceeds 
to  arrange  them  in  triplets,  by  bringing  the  extremes  together, 
with  the  Sun  between  each  couple  ;  thus,  Saturn,  the  Sun,  and 
the  Moon ;  then  Jupiter,  the  Sun,  and  Mercury  ;  and  finally  Mars, 
the  Sun,  and  Venus ;— each  exterior  couple  representing  condi- 
tions of  what  these  writers  call  the  Two  Luminaries  (active  and 
passive),  with  the  Sun  in  the  middle,  their  real  sun  in  this  scheme, 
however,  being  invisible. 

Whatever  may  have  been  their  real  purpose,  they  have  used 
but  seven,  and  Swedenborg,  in  his  theological  or  Alchemic  writ- 
ings, limited  himself  to  the  same  number,  though,  as  a  man  of 
science,  he  knew  there  were  more.  They  were  merely  used  as 
symbols. 


6WEDENBOKG,  [Cn.  VI. 

bad,  and  from  the  lack  of  experience,  or  observa- 
tion, or  both,  they  do  not  readily  conceive  of  na- 
tures much  above  or  much  below  themselves. 
Hence  the  worst  of  men  are  below  ordinary  con- 
ception, while  the  best  of  men  are  above  it. 

The  best  of  men  Swedenborg  describes  as  an- 
gels, and  speaks  of  them  as  of  another  earth  than 
ours  ;  but  he  is  speaking  of  men  nevertheless,  in 
our  midst,  yet  men  who  live  to  the  spirit  and  not 
to  the  flesh ; — men  who  love  the  truth,  and  whose 
chief  delight  is  in  it ; — who  love  to  think  of  God 
and  of  eternal  things ;  who  are  in  the  habit  of 
realizing  in  themselves  God's  eternal  presence, 
and  thence  acquire  or  enter  into  a  sense  of  their 
own  eternity,  in  the  very  centre  of  which  they 
find  themselves  as  if  waking  from  a  dream,  in 
such  a  manner  that  what  had  seemed  most  real 
becomes  shadowy  and  imaginary,  while  that 
which  had  been  regarded  as  mystical  and  vision- 
ary becomes  the  only  real.  Yet  all  this  in  the 
body  and  in  a  state  of  perfect  "  wakefulness ; " 
and  such  men  know  that  they  are  no  longer  in  a 
dream,  though  they  feel  that  to  talk  of  such  ex- 
periences must  seem  like  dreaming  to  those  who 
a,re  in  the  sleep  of  nature. 

It  is  very  plain  that  no  one  while  in  the  body 


CH.  VI.]  A   HERMETIC   PHILOSOPHER.  127 

can  ever,  in  any  strict  sense,  be  said  to  be  ont  of 
the  body,  though  it  is  easily  conceivable  that  a 
man  may  be  in  such  a  state,  through  the  energy 
and  action  of  his  inner  life,  as  scarcely,  if  at  all, 
to  feel  the  pressure  of  his  body,  and  may  hardly 
know  he  has  a  body  : — and  this  is  as  possible  in 
the  purely  intellectual  life  as  through  the  affec- 
tional  or  passional  nature,  where  it  often  occurs. 
It  has  been  well  said,  that  we  may  and  do  per- 
ceive those  ideas  and  inner  actions  of  life  which 
we  conceive  by  the  intellect,  and  know  them  to 
be  far  more  real,  though  unseen  outwardly,  than 
the  so-called  outward  realities,  which  are  often 
known  to  be  shadows  while  we  observe  them. 

In  every  point  of  view,  it  seems  certain  that 
no  man,  while  in  the  body,  will  ever  see  beyond 
his  nature  considered  in  its  double  existence  as 
inward  and  outward,  and  hence  no  man  will  ever 
travel,  we  may  be  sure,  to  another  world,  while 
in  the  body,  and  bring  back  thence  any  thing  but 
what  he  carries  with  him,  or  may  find  here  be- 
fore he  sets  out  upon  his  journey. 

That  God,  nevertheless,  should  enlighten  the 
minds  of  some  men  according  to  their  capacity 
for  reception,  ought  not  to  surprise  any  one  in 
whom  the  doctrine  of  God's  omnipresence  and 
omnipotence  is  a  living  truth,  and  not  merely  a 


128  SWEDENBORG,  [OH.  VI. 

verbal  creed  practically  alien  to  the  life,  and  ca- 
pable of  being  roused  only  by  "  storms  and  earth- 
quakes "  of  the  inner  or  outer  world.  "  To  see 
God  only  in  what  seems  to  disturb  the  peace  of 
nature  is  to  see  him  only  in  his  terrors,  and  is 
scarcely  to  see  him  at  all." 

Swedenborg's  memorable  relations,  as  he  calls 
them,  for  he  does  not  call  them  revelations,  are 
nothing  but  intellectual  exercises,  conducted  un- 
der the  idea  of  God's  eternal  presence,  and  thinly 
veiled  with  a  phraseology  selected  and  adopted 
for  no  other  purpose  in  the  world  but  to  remove 
them  or  show  their  removal  from  the  sensuous 
world.  The  natural  man  knoweth  not  the  things 
of  the  Spirit ;  they  are  foolishness  to  him ;  and 
therefore  he  will  not  listen  to  them  as  in  this 
world,  spiritually  observed,  or,  in  Swedenborg's 
own  language,  as  seen  in  a  "  celestial  idea ; "  but 
he  will  listen  to  one  who  tells  him  that  he  has 
seen  such  things,  in  the  spirit,  in  another  earth, 
or  in  some  star  beyond  the  sun !  But  this  is  a 
fiction,  and  whoever  thinks  otherwise  is  greatly 
deceived,  and  misses  the  purest  benefit  of  Swe- 
denborg's writings. 

It  is  but  fair  and  just  to  interpret  Swedenborg 
according  to  the  spirit  of  these  remarks,  and  the 
more  BO  as,  by  paragraph  50  of  Angelic  Wisdom 


CH.  VI.]  A  HEKMETIO   PHILO8OPHEE.  129 

concerning  Divine  Providence, — and  in  number- 
less other  places, — he  seems  to  tell  us  in  open 
plain  language  how  to  understand  what  he  says 
of  angels. 

"No  one  (says  he)  thinks  from  space  and 
time  when  he  thinks  concerning  those  who  are  in 
the  spiritual  world."  He  says  that,  "  angels  and 
spirits  are  affections  which  are  of  love,  and 
thoughts  thence,"  and  that,  "  when  any  one  [any 
one,  not  himself  only]  thinks  about  another  from 
affection,  with  the  intention  that  he  wishes  to  see 
him,  or  to  speak  with  him,  he  is  set  forthwith 
present." 

«  *  *  *  *  Space  and  time  make  nothing 
towards  presence,  for  the  reason  that  affection, 
and  thought  thence,  are  not  in  space  and  time  ; 
and  spirits  and  angels  are  affections  and  thence 
thoughts." 

I  find  a  remarkable  coincidence  with  the  idea 
or  principle  here  expressed,  in  a  very  singular 
Hermetic  volume,  published  in  English  (trans- 
lated from  the  French)  in  1650,  with  the  title 
Unheard  of  Curiosities  concerning  the  Talis- 
manical  Sculpture  of  the  Persians,  the  Horoscope 
of  the  Patriarches  /  and  the  Heading  of  the  Stars. 

This  is  purely  a  Hermetic  book,  and  though 
absolute  nonsense  to  the  general  reader,  it  is  in- 
6* 


130  SWEDENBOKG,  [CM.  VI. 

terlarded  with  the  main  doctrines  of  Swedenborg 
enigmatically  expressed,  especially  the  doctrine 
that  God  is  Man.*  The  book  had  passed  through 
two  editions  in  French  before  it  appeared  in 
English,  which  may  assure  us  that  it  had  readers, 

*  The  reader  may  find  a  great  deal  of  Swedenborgianism  an- 
ticipated in  the  writings  of  the  elder  Van  Helmont.  Van  H.  in 
his  Vision  of  the  Soul  expressly  says  that,  inasmuch  as  God 
"  hath  vouchsafed  to  adopt  only  the  soul  of  man  to  the  image 
of  Himself,  it  appears  also  a  genuine  consequence,  that  the  im- 
mense and  ineffable  God  is  also  of  human  figure ;  and  that,  by 
an  argument  drawn  a  posteriori,  if  arguments  be  of  any  validity 
in  this  incomprehensible  subject." 

It  will  be  recollected  that  Swedenborg  says  again  and  again, 
that  God  always  appears  before  the  angels  as  a  man. 

The  doctrine  of  the  grand-man  pervades  a  volume  by  the 
younger  Van  Helmont, — the  father  and  son  were  both  Hermetic 
philosophers, — entitled,  Paradoxal  Discourses  of  F.  M.  Van 
Helmont,  concerning  the  Macrocosm  and  Microcosm,  or  the  Great- 
er and  the  Lesser  World,  and  their  Union,  published  in  English 
in  1685.  In  this  work,  Hermetic  throughout,  ch.  iii.,  sec.  1., 
treats  of  Matter  and  Spirit  under  the  symbolic  expressions,  Water 
and  Quick-sand.  When  the  author  says  that  diggers  for  metals 
everywhere,  even  under  the  highest  mountains,  are  sure  to  come 
to  Quick-sand,  he  means  that  searchers  for  truth,  in  pursuing 
their  inquiries  through  nature,  always  reach  a  Spiritual  limit, 
"  beyond  which  there  is  no  farther  digging." 

At  page  65,  of  the  Microcosm,  the  thoughts  of  man  are  called 
Spirits,  and  are  classified  into  good  and  bad  Angels  of  man. 

Swedenborg  calls  the  affections  and  thoughts  thence,  Spirits 
and  Angels. 


CH.  VI.]  A  HERMETIC  PHILOSOPHER.  131 

whether  fools  or  not.  The  book  is  full  of  learning, 
Latin,  Greek,  and  Hebrew,  and  may  demon- 
strate to  the  curious  reader  that  there  was  a  class 
of  men  altogether  out  of,  if  not  above  the  common 
order,  who  cultivated  a  science  or  art  entirely 
unknown  to  the  "  common  sort."  This  art  was 
Hermetic  philosophy,  which  has  been  cultivated 
in  all  ages  though  under  various  names,  including 
astrology. 

But,  for  the  coincidence,  which  it  is  my  object 
to  bring  out : 

"  Those  then  (says  this  author)  that  are  well 
skilled  in  the  Secrets  [Hermetic  Secrets]  of  the 
Theology  of  the  ancients,  assure  us,  that  those 
that  first  set  up  images  in  their  temples,  resem- 
bling the  shapes  of  angels  that  have  appeared 
upon  earth,  had  no  other  design  in  so  doing,  save 
only  the  more  easily  to  invite  down  those  blessed 
spirits,  by  the  force  of  the  resemblance.  And  I 
know  not  whether  or  no,  by  the  very  same  virtue 
of  resemblance,  which  is  found  betwixt  God  and 
men ;  (Faciamm  hominem  ad  imaginem,  et  simi- 
litudinem  nostrum:)  it  hath  not  rightly  been 
affirmed  by  some  Divines,  that  the  Son  of  God 
would  nevertheless  have  become  man  (yet  with- 
out suffering  death),  though  Adam  had  never 
fallen.  But  speaking  of  things,  as  they  are  now 


132  SWEDENBOKG,  [On.  VI. 

at  present,  we  know,  that  Jesus  Christ  is  found 
in  the  midst  of  those,  that  speak,  with  Faith,  of 
his  name :  because  that  when,  we  speak  with  affec- 
tion of  any  one,  we  represent  him  to  ourselves  in 
our  imagination.  When,  therefore,  speaking  of 
Jesus  Chist  we  fancy  him  as  he  is,  he  is  instantly 
present  with  us,  appearing  to  our  hearts  at  the 
very  instant  that  we  there  frame  his  image  by  our 
imagination.  So  true  it  is,  that  resemblance  hath 
the  power  to  work  wonders,  even  upon  him  that 
hath  dependence  upon  no  other,  and  is  not  under 
any  power  or  law.  But  such  conceptions  as  these 
are  to  be  entertained  with  all  piety  and  humility ; 
and  proposed  with  such  sanctity,  as  becomes  those 
that  speak  of  so  adorable  a  subject." 

I  will  note,  in  passing,  that  the  identical  doc- 
trine of  Swedenborg,  as  expressed  in  paragraph 
50,  Divine  Providence,  is  in  the  10th  book  of  the 
Pymander  of  Hermes,  whose  very  name  has  been 
given  to  the  philosophy  cultivated  by  Sweden- 
borg. See,  especially,  paragraphs  117  to  124  in- 
clusive. But,  upon  reflection,  as  the  Pymander 
is  out  of  print  and  scarcely  known,  I  will  copy 
these  few  paragraphs,  which  the  reader  may  at 
his  leisure  compare  with  the  doctrine  of  Sweden- 
borg. 

117.  "  All  things  are  in  God,  not  as  lying  in  a 


CH.  VI.]  A   HERMETIC   PHILOSOPHEB.  133 

place  ;  for  place  is  with  a  body,  and  immoveable, 
and  these  things  that  are  there  placed,  have  no 
motion. 

118.  "But  they  lie  otherwise  in  that  which  is 
unbodily,   than    in  the  fantasy,   or  to   appear- 
ance. 

119.  "  Consider  Him  that  contains  all  things, 
and  understand  that  nothing  is  more  capacious 
than  that  which  is  incorporeal,  nothing  more 
swift,  nothing  more  powerful :  but  it  is  most  ca- 
pacious, most  swift,  and  most  strong. 

120.  "And  judge  of  this  by  thyself;   com- 
mand thy  soul  to  go  to  INDIA,  and  sooner  than 
thou  canst  bid  it,  it  will  be  there. 

121.  "  Bid  it  likewise  pass  over  the  ocean,  and 
suddenly  it  will  be  there ;  not  as  passing  from 
place  to  place,  but  suddenly  it  will  be  there. 

122.  "  Command  it  to  fly  into  Heaven,  and  it 
will  need  no  wings,  neither  shall  any  thing  hin- 
der it ;  not  the  fire  of  the  Sun,  not  the  ether,  nor 
the  turning  of  the  spheres  ;  not  the  bodies  of  any 
of  the  other  stars ; — but,  cutting  through  all,  it 
will  fly  up  to  the  last  and  furtherest  body. 

123.  "And  if  thou  wilt  even  break  the  whole, 
and  see  those  things  that  are  without  the  world 
(if  there  be  any  thing  without),  thou  mayest. 

124.  "Behold  how  great  power,  how  great 


134  SWEDENBORG,  [Cn.  VI. 

swiftness,  thou  hast !     Canst  thou  do  all  these 
things,  and  cannot  God  ?  " 

Let  these  passages  be  compared  with  Sweden- 
borg's  doctrine  of  space  and  presence,  and  with 
the  power  of  resemblance,  &c.,  and  they  will  be 
seen  to  be  the  same. 

If  we  will  take  Swedenborg's  own  description 
or  designation  of  what  he  understood  by  angels 
and  spirits,  and  not  imagine  full-faced  little 
cherubs  with  wings,  there  need  be  no  difficulty. 

According  to  Swedenborg,  man  is  inwardly, 
or  as  to  his  spiritual  nature,  in  the  spiritual 
world  ;  but  externally,  or  as  to  his  sensuous  na- 
ture, he  is  in  the  natural  world. 

Here  is  a  passage  from  Divine  Love  and  Wis- 
dom, which  assuredly  ought  to  tell  us  how  the 
author  would  be  understood,  when  speaking  of 
angels. 

"  All  that  is  here  said  of  the  angels,  and  of 
their  turning  to  the  Lord  as  a  sun,  is  also  to  be 
understood  of  man,  as  to  his  spirit  /  for  man,  as 
to  his  mind,  is  a  spirit,  and  if  he  be  in  love  and 
wisdom,  he  is  an  angel ;  wherefore  also  after 
death,  when  he  puts  off  his  externals,  which  he 
has  derived  from  the  natural  world,  he  becomes 
a  spirit  or  an  angel :  and  since  the  angels  con- 


CH.  VI.]  A   HEEMETIC   PHILOSOPHER.  135 

stantly  turn  their  faces  eastward  to  the  sun,  con- 
sequently to  the  Lord,  it  is  also  said  of  the  man 
who  is  in  love  and  wisdom  from  the  Lord,  that 
he  sees  God,  that  he  looks  to  God,  and  that  he 
has  God  before  his  eyes  ;  ty  which  is  MEANT  [I 
italicise  this]  that  he  leads  the  life  of  an  angel. 
Such  things  are  said  in  the  world,  as  well  because 
they  actually  exist  in  Heaven,  as  because  they 
actually  exist  in  man's  spirit.  In  prayer,  who 
does  not  look  before  him  up  to  God,  to  whatever 
quarter  his  face  is  turned. 

"  The  angels  constantly  turn  their  faces  to  the 
Lord  as  a  Sun,  because  they  are  in  tJie  Lord  and 
the  Lord  in  them,  and  the  Lord  interiorly  leads 
their  affections  and  thoughts,  and  constantly 
turns  them  to  Himself ;  consequently,  they  can- 
not look  any  otherwise  than  to  the  East,  where 
the  Lord  appears  as  a  Sun :  [I  beg  the  reader, 
for  his  own  sake,  not  to  take  this  in  a  physical 
sense ;  but  rather  think  it  symbolic  of  the  star 
which  appeared  in  the  east.]  Hence  it  is  evident 
(the  passage  proceeds),  that  the  angels  do  not 
turn  themselves  to  the  Lord,  but  that  the  Lord 
turns  them  to  himself.  For  when  the  angels  [I 
repeat,  that  Swedenborg  is  speaking  of  man,  but 
under  certain  conditions  rarely  met  with ;  and 
therefore  the  sense  is,  that  when  men]  think  in- 


136  SWEDENBOKG,  [Cfl.  VI. 

teriorly  of  the  Lord,  they  do  not  think  of  him 
otherwise  than  in  themselves.  Interior  thought 
itself,  does  not  cause  distance ;  but  exterior 
thought,  which  acts  as  one  with  the  light  of  the 
eyes,  does  make  distance  ;  the  reason  is,  because 
exterior  thought  is  in  space,  but  not  interior 
thought,  and  when  it  is  not  in  space  as  in  the 
spiritual  world,  still  it  is  in  the  appearance  of 
space. 

"  The  turning  of  the  angels  to  the  Lord  is 
such,  that  at  every  turn  of  their  bodies,  they  look 
to  the  Lord,  as  a  Sun  before  them  :  an  angel  [a 
man,  when  in  the  right  state  for  it, — for  it  is  not 
true  of  the  sensuous  man]  can  turn  himself  round 
and  round,  and  thereby  see  various  things  which 
are  about  him,  but  still  the  Lord  constantly  ap- 
pears before  his  face  as  a  Sun.  This  may  seem 
wonderful,  but  nevertheless  it  is  the  truth." 

"What  is  this  but  a  mode  of  speaking  of  a  man 
who  lives  in  the  idea  of  God's  omnipresence  ? 
Such  a  man  is  said  to  see  from  a  celestial  idea, 
and  though  he  looks  upon  the  very  same  things 
externally  that  are  visible  to  the  natural  man, 
they  are,  by  virtue  of  the  "  celestial  idea,"  so  to 
speak,  transformed  into  the  spirit;  while  yet, 
they  remain  the  same  externally.  Hence  Swe- 
denborg  often  reiterates  that  things  in  the  spirit- 


CH.  VI.]  A   HEKMETIC   PHILOSOPHEK.  137 

ual  world,  as  to  external  appearance,  are  the 
same  as  in  the  natural  world. 

The  distinction  lies  in  the  nature  of  man,  or 
in  the  different  conditions  of  different  men. 

.«..*,*..   ^4   :,--...-      .-    •     ro.     •-.    .' ,     .'- 

But  I  may  be  told  that  in  a  letter  to  Dr.  Get 
inger,  of  the  8th  of  Nov.,  1768,  Swedenborg  "  sa- 
credly and  solemnly  declares  that  the  Lord  him- 
self had  been  seen  of  him,"  and  that  he  sent  him 
to  do  what  he  did,  and  that  for  that  purpose  he 
had  "  opened  and  enlightened  the  interior  part 
of  his  soul,"  so  that  he  could  "  see  what  is  in  the 
spiritual  world  and  those  that  are  therein,"  and 
that,  "  that  privilege  had  been  continued  to  him 
for  twenty-two  years." 

The  question  arises  with  many, — how  can 
Swedenborg's  veracity  be  maintained,  and  any 
other  than  a  literal  interpretation  be  put  upon 
such  explicit  declarations  ? 

I  would  answer,  that  as  large  a  latitude  of  in- 
terpretation of  Swedenborg's  declarations  must 
be  allowed  as  he  himself  took  with  the  equally 
explicit  statements  in  the  Scriptures.  "Whatever 
others  might  say  of  this  license,  neither  he,  if 
living,  nor  his  friends  have  any  right  to  com- 
plain. How  then  does  the  case  stand  ? 

We  read  expressly  that  God  spake  to  Moses 


138  SWEDENBORG,  [00.  VI. 

out  of  the  b timing  bush,  and  that  the  bush 
though  burning  was  not  consumed.  Millions 
and  millions  of  the  human  race,  putting  faith  in 
the  Scriptures,  receive  these  statements  as  literal- 
ly true  ;  but  Swedenborg  does  not  hesitate  to  in- 
terpret this  burning  bush  as  a  symbol  of  the  Law, 
in  the  letter  of  which  was  contained  the  Spirit  of 
God,  like  the  fire  which  burned  in  the  bush  but 
did  not  consume  it,  and  he  apparently  placed  no 
value  upon  the  literal  reading  of  the  text. 

But  how  is  Swedenborg  to  be  understood,  in 
the  letter  to  Dr.  Oetinger  ? 

I  would  gather  an  answer  by  an  easy  infer- 
ence from  part  of  a  discourse  by  a  celebrated 
divine  of  the  last  century  on  Micah,  6.  8.  He 
hath  shewed  thee,  0  mem,  what  is  good;  and 
what  doth  the  Lord  require  of  thee,  but  to  do  just- 
ly, and  to  love  mercy,  and  to  walk  humbly  with 
thy  God. 

The  author,  the  Kev.  John  Heylyn,  1770, 
prefers  the  marginal  translation,  which  reads — 
"  To  humble  thyself  to  walk  with  God ; " — upon 
which  he  proceeds  to  show  that  pride  separates 
us  from  God;  that,  by  pride,  men  are  always 
thinking  of  themselves,  so  as  "  to  leave  no  room 
for  God  in  their  souls;"  that  "self  usurps  his 
altar  there;"  but  that  Humility  dethrones  the 


CH.  VI.]  A  HERMETIC   PHILOSOPHER.  139 

idol,  self,  which  profaned  God's  temple,  and  leaves 
"  Him  his  proper  place  in  our  affections ; "  that 
God  cannot  be  known  to  the  soul  until  humility 
has  cast  down  all  imaginations  and  every  high 
thought  that  exalteth  itself  against  the  knowledge 
of  God ;  that,  God  can  only  be  known  as  the 
sovereign  good  of  the  soul ;  that,  not  to  know 
him  as  infinitely  desirable,  is  to  be  ignorant  of 
him ;  for  that,  he  is  our  supreme  good,  and  the 
soul  cannot  be  said  to  know  him,  who  does  not 
apprehend  him  as  such  : — but  that,  the  soul  can- 
not apprehend  him  as  her  supreme  good  while 
any  created  good  has  the  preference  in  her  es- 
teem. The  author  then  proceeds  to  show,  that, 
when  humility  has  prepared  the  heart  for  the 
knowledge  of  God,  "  He  graciously  vouchsafes  to 
MANIFEST  himself  to  our  souls,  causing  there  a 
lively  SENSE  of  his  PRESENCE  ; " — the  author  citing 
God's  promises,  Is.  57.  15,  and  John  14.  21,  23, 
to  encourage  us  in  humility  and  the  practice  of 
virtue,  affirming  that,  upon  these  conditions, 
"  God  will  MANIFEST  himself  unto  us ; "  that  Je- 
sus Christ  and  his  Father  "  will  come  unto  us, 
and  make  their  abode  with  us,"  &c. 

I  see  no  need  of  supposing  that  Swedenborg 
meant  any  thing  more,  in  affirming  that  the 
"  Lord  "  had  been  "  seen  of  him,"  than  that,  with 


140  8WEDENBOKG,  [CH.  VI. 

respect  to  himself,  the  promises  of  Scripture  to 
the  truly  humble  had  been  fulfilled.  The  secre- 
tum  artis  had,  as  he  thought,  been  given  to  him, 
and  his  sense  of  the  magnitude  of  this  "  gift  of 
God "  may,  in  some  degree,  be  estimated  by 
its  consequences,  as  shown  in  his  life  and 
labors. 

That  the  "  Lord "  had  commanded  him  "  to 
do  what  he  did,"  merely  signifies,  that  under  the 
consciousness  of  possessing  a  great  truth,  he  felt 
an  impulse  to  work  for  the  good  of  mankind ; 
and,  acknowledging  this  impulse  to  have  pro- 
ceeded from  the  author  of  all  good,  he  did  not 
hesitate  to  speak  of  it  as  the  command  of  the 
"  Lord,"  and  feeling  it  as  such  he  religiously 
obeyed  it. 

The  assumption,  if  it  was  one,  that  the  Lord 
had  commanded  him  to  "  do  what  he  did,"  was 
common  with  Hermetic  writers  during  the  mid- 
dle ages.  They  refer  to  their  knowledge  as  su- 
pernaturally  acquired, — as  acquired  by  inspira- 
tion,— and  although  they  often  declare  that  they 
are  not  permitted  by  God  to  reveal  or  make 
known  the  truth  beyond  a  certain  limit,  yet  up 
to  that  limit  they  claim  to  speak  by  express  au- 
thority, or  by  the  "  command"  of  the  Lord.  One 
or  two  examples  of  this  will  suffice.  Basil  Val- 


Cfl.  VI.]  A   HERMETIC   PHILOSOPHER.  141 

entitle,  after  treating  of  what  he  calls  natural 
and  supernatural  things,  says  : 

"  What  I  have  done,  has  not  been  done  from 
a  desire  of  vain  and  transitory  glory  ;  but  I  have 
been  induced  thereunto  by  the  command  of 
Christ  the  Lord,  that  his  glory  and  goodness  in 
eternal  and  temporal  matters,  should  not  be  con- 
cealed from  any  man,  but  to  the  praise,  honor, 
and  glory  of  his  holy  everlasting  name, — that  it 
might  be  exalted,  acknowledged,  and  revealed  in 
his  Majesty  by  reason  of  his  Highness  and  Al- 
mightiness,  through  the  confirmation  of  his  won- 
derful deeds.  And  secondly,  I  have  been  led 
thereunto  by  Love  and  Charity  towards  my 
neighbor, — for  his  good  as  for  my  own ;  *  *  * 
and  likewise  that  the  Supremest  mystery  may 
not  quite  be  suffocated  in  darkness  nor  be  drowned 
in  overflowing  waters,  [i.  e.  suffocated  by  ignor- 
ance, or  drowned  by  animal  passions,]  but  be  de- 
livered out  of  the  deep  and  filthy  mire  of  the 
Idiotish  Crew  by  the  right  appearance  of  the 
true  Light — "  &c. 

Here  is  enough  to  show  that  others  besides 
Swedenborg  claimed  to  publish  their  sense  of 
truth  by  the  command  of  the  Lord. 

In  the  above  passage  Basil  Valentine,  an  al- 
chemist be  it  remembered,  refers  to  the  "  com- 


142  SWEDENBOKG,  [On.  VI. 

mand  "  of  the  Lord  as  his  authority  for  what  he 
taught. 

The  anonymous  Cosmopolita,  another  alche- 
mist, and  one  of  the  most  ingenious  among  them, 
in  Ripley  Revived  (1678),  refers  to  both  a  com- 
mission and  a  permission,  the  latter  word  being 
very  frequently  used  by  Swedenborg,  as  his 
readers  will  remember ;  for  example, — as  (Some- 
thing) has  l)een  unknown  to  this  day,  it  is  PERMIT- 
TED to  relate,  <&c. : — this  language  is  frequently 
met  in  the  writings  of  Swedenborg. 

Cosmopolita  writes ; — "  It  is  to  be  understood 
that  the  most  wise  God  hath  a  ruling  hand  here- 
in, and  all  the  Sons  of  Art  have  their  commis- 
sion as  it  were  given  them ;  they  write  and  teach 
according  to  that  permission  which  the  Creator 
of  all  things  hath  given  them."  But,  neverthe- 
less, as  they  taught  in  figures,  parables  and  alle- 
gories, he  continues,  as  follows  : 

"  And  truly  it  is  not  our  intent  to  make  the 
Art  common  to  all  kinds  of  men ;  we  write  to  the 
deserving  only;  intending  our  books  to  be  but 
as  way-marks  to  those  who  may  travel  in  these 
paths  of  nature,  and  we  do  what  we  can  to  shut 
out  the  unworthy :  yet  we  write  so  plainly  [so 
openly]  that  as  many  as  God  hath  appointed  to 
this  Mastery  shall  certainly  understand  us,  and 


CH.  VL]  A   HERMETIC   PHIL080PHEK.  143 

have  cause  to  be  thankful  for  our  faithfulness 
herein.  This  gratitude  we  shall  receive  from  the 
Sons  of  this  Science,  whatever  we  have  from 
others:  Our  books,  therefore,  are  intended  for 
the  former ;  but  we  do  not  write  a  word  to  the 
latter.  Moreover,  we  write  not  our  books  for  the 
information  of  the  illiterate,  as  though  every  vul- 
gar mechanical  distiller,  alchemist,  or  sophister, 
should  readily  carry  away  the  Golden  Fleece; 
nor  do  we  intend  that  any  covetous  man,  who 
makes  gain  his  utmost  ends,  shall  readily  gather 
the  Apples  of  the  Hesperides  /  nor  yet,  that  any, 
though  learned,  should  by  once  or  twice  careless 
and  slight  reading  of  our  books  be  straightway 
made  a  philosopher:  Nay  verily,  the  Majesty 
of  this  Science  [call  it  the  true  knowledge  of  God] 
forbids  so  great  impiety ;  it  is  the  gift  of  God, 
and  not  of  men :  our  books  are  for  those  who 
have  been  or  intend  to  be  employed  in  the  search 
of  nature  ;  we  hint  the  way ;  prayer  to  God  and 
patient  persistence  in  the  use  of  means,  must  open 
these  doors.  Let,  therefore,  profound  MEDITATION, 
accompanied  with  the  blessing  of  God,  Furnaces, 
Coals,  Glasses,  and  indefatigable  pains,  be  thy 
interpreters,  and  let  them  serve  for  commentaries 
upon  our  writings.  So  I  did ;  so  I  advise  thee : 


144  SWEDENBOKG,  [CH.  VI. 

and  may  the  blessing  of  God  attend  all  studious, 
virtuous  searchers  in  this  art." 

Swedenborg,  about  a  century  later  than  Cos- 
mopolita,  wrote  much  more  openly  than  his  pre- 
decessors in  the  Art  / — and  why  ?  Because  he 
thought  that  the  world  had  so  advanced  in  knowl- 
edge as  to  receive  without  injury  the  strong 
"  meat," — that  God  is  [a]  man,  and  has  actually 
been  "  seen  "  in  the  world  in  his  humanity ; — 
that  God  is  the  Lord ;  that  the  Lord  is  Heaven ; 
that  Heaven  is  in  man  ;  that  men  are  the  stars 
of  Heaven,  differing  indeed  in  "  glory  "  (St.  Paul), 
but  that  in  every  metal  (as  the  alchemists  express 
it)  there  is  a  little  "  gold ; " — and  that  this  gold, 
"  this  stone,  this  wealth,  this  treasure,  though  it  be 
but  like  to  a  grain  of  mustard  seed,  yet  it  grows 
to  be  the  greatest  of  all  trees,  in  whose  branches 
the  birds  of  the  air  make  their  nests,  and  under 
whose  shadow  the  beasts  of  the  field  dwell." 
Salmon's  Commentary  upon  Hermes. 

The  absence  of  quotations,  or  references  to 
authorities,  in  Swedenborg's  theological  writings, 
has  been  observed,  and  the  reason  assigned  for  it 
by  his  admirers  is,  that  as  he  derived  his  knowl- 
edge directly  from  the  teaching  of  the  Lord 
(through  the  opening  of  his  internal  sight)  he  had 


CH.  VI.]  A  HEBMETIC  PHILOSOPHEE.  145 

no  occasion  to  fortify  his  communications  by  any 
such  references. 

This  also  was  a  pretence  of  the  alchemists. 

Thus,  in  "  Secrets  Revealed  (1669),  the  author 
says, — "  I  could  cite  all  of  the  philosophers  that 
write  of  this  thing,  but  I  need  no  witnesses ;  be- 
cause, being  myself  an  Adept,  I  do  write  more 
plainly  than  any  heretofore." 

In  another  place  he  says: — "As  I  write  these 
things  for  the  good  of  my  neighbor,  let  it  be 
enough,  that  I  profess  there  is  none  that  ever  writ 
in  this  art  so  clearly ;  and  that  many  a  time  in 
writing  I  laid  aside  my  pen,  because  I  was  rather 
willing  to  have  concealed  the  truth  under  a  mask ; 
but  God  compelled  me  to  write,  whom  I  could  not 
resist,  who  alone  knows  the  heart,  to  whom  only 
be  glory  forever." 

In  another  place,  still,  he  says  : — "  He  that 
hath  this  [the  Stone]  needs  no  information  from 
another ;  himself  now  standing  in  the  centre,  he 
may  easily  view  the  circumference,  and  then  ex- 
perience will  be,  next  to  the  Spirit  of  God,  his 
best  guide." 

/Sandivogius,  in  A  New  Light  of  Alchemy, 
writes  in  a  similar  manner.  Indeed, — if  the  reader 
has  access  to  the  writings  of  Basil,  Valentine, 

Sandivogius,  Cosmopolite,,  and — I  had  almost  said 
7 


146  SWEDENBORG,  [Cn.  VI. 

or — Espagnet,  all  of  them  Alchemists,  he  may  de- 
rive great  assistance  from  them  in  understanding 
Swedenborg ;  and,  on  the  other  hand,  the  study 
of  the  Swedish  philosopher  will  throw  great  light 
upon  their  obscure  writings. 

Whether  Swedenborg  was  or  was  not  mis- 
taken, either  in  regard  to  his  doctrines,  or  in  his 
opinion  of  the  intelligence  of  the  age  in  which  he 
wrote,  in  comparison  with  that  of  an  earlier  pe- 
riod— see  on  this  subject  one  of  his  letters  to  Dr. 
Oetinger — is  not  for  me  to  determine.  It  is  cer- 
tain that  he  was  a  Hermetic  philosopher,  writing, 
not  so  very  obscurely,  under  the  idea  that  the 
Alpha  and  Omega  are  ONE,  and  intimating  that 
these  two  are  God  and  man,  and  yet  but  ONE  NA- 
TUKE. 

I  have  often  suggested  the  importance  of  sep- 
arating in  our  minds  the  idea  of  the  truth  from 
the  representations  of  it  by  those  who  profess  to 
teach  it ;  and  on  this  subject,  more  than  on  all 
others,  it  is  necessary  to  have  regard  to  this  prin- 
ciple. Those  who  are  curious  in  their  inquiries 
into  the  nature  of  Hermetic  Philosophy,  under 
its  various  names  in  the  world,  for  it  is  a  very 
Proteus,  should  first  seek  to  learn  what  its  adepts 
taught,  and  then  propose  to  themselves  an  alto- 
gether different  question,  as  to  the  verity  of  their 


CH.  VI.]  A   HERMETIC   PHILOSOPHER.  14:7 

teaching ;  and  they  cannot  be  too  careful  as  to 
what  they  receive  as  the  truth  of  God. 

As  to  Swedenborg,  he  was  a  man,  and  no 
more ;  human,  and  therefore  fallible  ;  and  the 
light  he  speaks  of,  though  always  clear  in  itself, 
is  never  so  in  what  Swedenborg  himself  calls  its 
ultimate,  especially  when  this  ultimate  is  a  con- 
catenation of  ink-marks  called  human  writing  or 
printing.  Here  the  light  must  always  shine 
darkly.  And  this  induces  me  to  say  that  possi- 
bly,— though  I  have  no  wish  to  judge  him, — pos- 
sibly, I  say,  he  made  a  mistake  in  so  far  overstep- 
ping the  law  of  Hermetic  silence,  as  to  expose 
himself  and  his  writings  to  be  misunderstood  as 
they  have  been. 

Yet  there  is  no  need  of  misunderstanding  him, 
if  due  attention  be  paid  to  his  own  declarations, 
adjusted,  according  to  the  Hermetic  rule,  to  "  the 
possibility  of  nature."  It  is  not  contrary  to  this 
possibility,  that  the  "  Lord "  should  MANIFEST 
himself  to  man,  though  this  be  the  work  of  the 
"  Artist "  of  man,  and  not  of  man,  an  artist.  It 
is  is  only  an  exaltation  of  nature  in  or  through 
man,  by  which  the  man  is,  as  it  were,  taken  out 
of  himself,  as  an  isolated  and  selfish  being,  and 
elevated  into  the  universal,  where  he  works  for 


148  SWEDENBORG,  [Cn.  VI 

the  good  of  the  whole,  finding  his  own  happiness 
in  his  labor. 

I  have  already  cited  a  few  passages  from  Swe- 
denborg  to  assist  in  determining  how  his  language 
in  reference  to  angels  and  spirits  is  to  be  under- 
stood. By  angels  he  meant  men,  but  men  per- 
fected in  their  nature, — perfected  in  the  spirit,  if 
the  reader  pleases, — and  men  too,  living  or  dead, 
if  he  had  any  idea  of  them,  as  I  will  show  pres- 
ently. They  must  be  or  must  have  been  without 
guile, — turned  inside  outwards,  as  John  Isaac 
Hollanders  expresses  it  in  his  Alchemic  work 
Of  Saturn, — to  be  classed  with  Angels. 

As  to  the  extent  or  reach  of  the  so-called  in- 
ternal sight  or  view  of  the  spiritual  world,  we 
have  some  remarkable  testimony  from  General 
Tuxen.  Let  it  be  considered. 

If  the  account  may  be  relied  upon,  it  appears 
that  on  one  occasion  Swedenborg  was  presented 
to  the  Queen  of  Sweden,  who,  says  General 
Tuxcn,  expressed  her  satisfaction  at  seeing  him, 
and  asked  him,  "  Whether  it  was  true  that  he 
could  converse  with  the  deceased  ?  He  answer- 
ed, Yes.  She  inquired  further,  "Whether  it  was 
a  science  that  could  be  communicated  to  and  by 
others  ?  No.  What  is  it,  then  ?  A  gift  of  the 
Lord.  Can  you,  then,  speak  with  every  one  de- 
ceased, or  only  with  certain  persons  ?  He  an- 


CH.  VI.]  A  HERMETIC  PHILOSOPHER.  149 

swered  [and  the  reader  should  attend  to  this  an- 
swer], I  can  not  converse  with  all,  but  with  such 
as  I  have  known  in  this  world ;  with  all  royal 
and  princely  persons,  with  all  renowned  heroes, 
or  great  and  learned  men,  whom  I  have  known 
either  personally  or  from  their  actions  or  writ- 
ings;  consequently,  with  all,  of  whom,  I  could 
form  an  IDEA  ;  for  it  may  be  supposed  that  a  per- 
son whom  I  never  knew,  nor  of  whom  I  could 
form  any  IDEA,  I  neither  could,  nor  would  wish 
to  speak  with." 

It  would  appear,  then,  that  Swedenborg's 
knowledge  of  facts  was  not  increased  by  his  sight 
of  or  into  the  spiritual  world.  His  original  ideas 
remained  the  same,  while  his  sight  into  the  spirit- 
ual world  continued.  "What  then  took  place  ? 
Plainly  nothing  more  than  that  his  ideas  under- 
went an  examination  from  a  spiritual  point  of 
view,  and  inferences  and  results  were  derived 
from  them,  which  were  themselves  considered 
spiritual ; — but  only  in  the  sense  that  the  original 
ideas  were,  and  Swedenborg's  theory  places  all 
of  the  ideas  of  man  in  the  spiritual  world ;  for 
man,  as  to  his  "  interior  "  spirit  (or  nature),  says 
he,  "  is  in  the  spiritual  world." 

It  was  the  pretence  to  greater  infusions  of 
light  j  the  mistakes  of  excited  imaginations,  or  the 
daring*  impostures  of  corrupt  and  wicked  men, 


150  SWEDENBOEG,  [Cn.  VI 

that    brought   out    the  following  eulogy  upon 
RALPHO  : 

"  His  knowledge  was  not  far  behind 
The  knight's,  but  of  another  kind, 
And  he  another  way  came  by  't  j 
Some  call  it  GIFTS,  and  some  NEW  LIGHT. 
A  lib'ral  art  that  cost  no  pains 
Of  study,  industry,  or  brains. 

*  *  *  * 

But  as  he  got  it  freely,  so 
He  spent  it  frankly  and  freely  too. 
(  For  saints  themselves  will  sometimes  be, 
Of  gifts  that  cost  them  nothing,  free.  " . 

*  *  *  * 

He  could  deep  mysteries  unriddle, 

As  easily  as  thread  a  needle 

For  as  of  vagabonds  we  say, 

That  they  are  ne'er  beside  their  way  : 

Whate'er  men  speak  by  this  new  light, 

Still  they  are  sure  to  be  i'  the  right. 

'Tis  a  dark-lanthorn  of  the  spirit, 

Which  none  see  by  but  those  that  bear  it ; 

A  light  that  falls  down  from  on  high, 

For  spiritual  trades  to  cozen  by : 

An  ignis  fatuus,  that  bewitches, 

And  leads  men  into  pools  and  ditches 

To  make  them  dip  themselves,  and  sound 

For  Christendom,  in  dirty  pond  : 

To  dive  like  wild-fowl,  for  salvation, 

And  fish  to  catch  regeneration. 


CH.  VI.]  A  HEBMETIC  PHILOSOPHER.  151 

But  what  bigot  durst  ever  draw, 

By  inward  light,  a  deed  in  law  ? 

Or  could  hold  forth  by  revelation 

An  answer  to  a  declaration  ? 

For  those  that  meddle  with  their  tools, 

Will  cut  their  fingers,  If  they're  fools." 

There  is  nothing  in  any  of  Swedenborg's 
writings,  justly  interpreted  by  rules  to  be  found 
in  the  writings  themselves,  to  give  occasion  for 
such  severity. 

In  what  respect,  then,  was  Swedenborg's 
knowledge  advanced,  by  his  sight  into  the  spirit- 
ual world  ? 

His  friends  might  say  that  it  was  purified 
from  image  or  sensuous  elements,  and  clarified ; 
and  in  proportion  as  this  was  done,  his  knowledge, 
from  being  special,  became  universalized,  living 
upon  principles,  and  not  merely  upon  image  facts ; 
so  that,  as  he  says  himself,  he  was  not  solicitous 
about  his  memory  of  things,  but  depended  more 
upon  an  intellectual  life,  where  one  principle 
holds,  as  it  were,  a  multitude  of  facts,  and  is  the 
test  of  the  truth  of  all  facts  having  relation  to  the 
principle. 

With  Swedenborg  the  ordinary  tenet,  assert- 
ing God's  omnipresence — which  with  most  men 
is  merelv  a  form  of  words,  a  mere  verbal  confes- 


152  SWEDENBOKG,  [Cn.  VI. 

sion  of  faith  without  influencing  the  heart  and 
life — hecame  a  living  truth.  As  the  Divine  is 
in  all  things,  as  all  men  say  by  habit,  Sweden- 
"borg,  by  contemplation,  came  practically  into 
such  a  state  as  to  see  all  things  in  the  Divine ; 
but — and  it  is  important  to  observe  this — he  saw 
nothing  in  the  Divine  but  what  he  saw,  inwardly 
or  outwardly,  in  the  world,  the  two  worlds,  natu- 
ral and  spiritual,  being,  in  fact,  but  one  world 
united,  as  he  called  it,  by  correspondence ;  which 
correspondence  is  so  exact,  that  all  things  in  the 
spiritual  world  appear  as  in  the  natural  world  ; 
"  so  similar  (says  he),  that  as  to  external  aspect 
there  is  no  difference." — (Heaven  and  Hell,  par. 
582.) 

Those  who  fall  into,  or  reach  this  state  of  vi- 
sion, are  usually  called  mystics,  thougli  upon  what 
just  ground  this  is  considered  a  reproach,  I  con- 
fess, I  do  not  understand,  seeing  that  such  men 
do  but  practically  live  in  the  doctrine  of  God's 
omnipresence,  which  others  assert,  but  practically 
deny ;  but  those  who  assert  the  principle,  and 
yet  deride  the  mystic,  do  but  confess  their  igno- 
rance or  their  hypocrisy,  or,  if  they  prefer  the 
term,  their  infidelity.^  He  is  the  infidel,  whose 
life  and  practice  denies  his  confession  of  faith,  not 
he  in  whom  the  faith  and  practice  are  united^ 


CH.  VII.]  A  HERMETIC   PHILOSOPHER. 


153 


CHAPTEE   VII. 

I  HAVE  incidentally  shown  in  what  manner 
many  passages  in  Swedenborg's  writings  are  to  be 
interpreted,  and  have  indicated  some  principles 
by  which  most  of  his  writings  may  be  understood. 
I  will  now  interpret  a  few  more  passages,  but  the 
reader  must  bear  in  mind  that  the  Swede  was  a 
Hermetic  philosopher  writing  under  a  veil,  often 
writing  of  man  as  man  in  a  natural  sense,  and 
then  of  man  as  a  spirit,  and  again  as  a  regenerate 
man  (calling  him  an  angel) ;  and,  besides  these 
different  modes  of  speaking  of  him,  he  is  some- 
times called  a  house,  a  world,  an  earth,  a  temple, 
a  tabernacle,  a  palace,  the  palace  of  a  king,  not 
made  with  hands,  for  nothing  is  more  certain 
than  that  Swedenborg  might  have  cautioned  his 
readers  in  the  language  of  Cambachius,  the  Al- 
chemist : 

"  Let  me  entreat  you  (addressing  the  reader) 
to  take  notice,  by  the  way,  that  when  you  find 
any  mention  made  of  heaven,  earth,  soul,  spirits  ; 
7* 


154  SWEDENBOKG,  [Cn.  VII. 

or  our  heaven,  &c.,  these  are  not  meant  the  celes- 
tial Heaven,  or  natural  earth  ;  but  terms  used 
by  the  philosophers  to  hide  their  sayings  from  the 
wicked :  spoken  with  all  due  reverence  to  the 
Divine  Majesty  /  of  whose  glorious  attributes 
the  true  philosophers  and  astrologers  are  as  ten- 
der as  Classical  John;  yet  this  I  thought  good 
to  mention,  being  cautious  lest  any  spark  of  my 
flint  should  touch  the  wild-fire  of  his  beacons ; 
but  that  my  SALT  may  rather  preserve  the  hopes 
of  the  intelligent  reader,  to  dive  through  his 
studies  to  his  crowned  haven" — (Sal,  Lumen, 
Spiritus  Mundi  Philosophici,  1657.) 

I  will  just  remark,  in  passing,  that  the  As- 
trologers, the  true  astrologers  here  referred  to, 
were  not  ignorant  and  pretentious  predicting  im- 
postors, but  were  students  of  "astral"  secrets, 
meaning  the  heavenly  principles,  or  the  spiritual 
nature  of  man,  wherein  the  philosopher  sought 
his  cceluin,  a  place  of  heavenly  peace,  to  be  en- 
joyed in  silence,  and  not  in  the  noise  of  the 
world,  where  there  is  always  danger  of  bringing 
its  possession  into  jeopardy. 

The  reader  is  now  invited  to  consider  a  few 
passages  from  Swedenborg's  writings. 

Paragraph  174,  Heaven  and  Hell :  "  "When 


CH.  VII.]  A  HERMETIC   PHILOSOPHER.  155 

it  has  been  given  me  to  be  in  company  with  an- 
gels, the  things  which  were  there  have  been  seeii 
by  me  altogether  as  those  which  are  in  the  world ; 
and  so  perceptibly,  that  I  knew  no  otherwise 
than  that  I  was  in  the  world,  and  there  in  the 
palace  of  a  king :  I  also  spoke  with  them  as  man 
with  man." 

In  this  paragraph,  the  World  is  the  universe ; 
the  Palace  is  man ;  the  King  is  the  king  of 
kings,  and  the  Angels  are  men  perfected  in  the 
spiritual  or  celestial  sense,  men  who  lived,  like 
Swedenborg,  in  a  constant  sense  of  God's  pres- 
ence, expecting  a  continuance  of  that  state  be- 
yond this  "  transitory  and  educational  scene."  I 
state  this  as  the  theory ;  let  the  worth  of  it  be 
examined  by  every  man  for  himself. 

Par.  177,  same  work :  "  Because  angels  are 
men  and  live  with  one  another  as  the  men  of  the 
earth  do,  therefore  they  have  garments,  habita- 
tions, and  other  like  things,  yet  with  the  differ- 
ence that  they  have  all  things  more  perfect,  be- 
cause in  a  more  perfect  state." 

"Why  more  perfect?  Simply  because  they 
are  supposed  to  live  to  the  spirit,  and  not  to  the 
body,  but  the  angels  spoken  of  are  men,  never- 
theless, living  in  the  world,  though  not  of  the 
world. — John  xvii.  16. 


156  SWEDENBOKG,  [On.  VII. 

The  habitation  of  the  soul,  and  the  soul  itself 
the  habitation  of  the  spirit,  is  sometimes  spoken 
of  as  a  garden,  a  paradisiacal  garden,  where  there 
are  flowers  and  fruits,  such  as  are  "  nowhere  to 
be  seen  in  the  world,"  and  these  fruits  are  said 
to  be  gathered,  "  according  to  the  good  of  Love 
in  which  the  intelligent  are." 

The  angels  are  said  to  "see  such  things,  be- 
cause a  garden  and  paradise,  and  also  fruit-trees 
and  flowers,  correspond  to  intelligence  and  wis- 
dom." "  That  such  things  (he  continues)  are  in 
the  heavens,  is  also  known  in  the  earth,  but  only 
to  those  who  are  in  good,  and  who  have  not  ex- 
tinguished in  themselves  the  light  of  Heaven  by 
natural  light  and  its  fallacies  ;  for  they  say,  when 
speaking  of  Heaven,  that  such  things  are  there 
as  the  ear  hath  not  heard  nor  the  eye  seen" 

Any  one  may  see,  at  least  when  it  has  been 
pointed  out,  that  Swedenborg  here  simply  dis- 
tinguishes two  classes  of  men  in  the  world,  and 
not  out  of  it — one  living  to  the  Spirit,  and  the 
other  to  nature  in  a  subordinate  sense  ;  and  that 
the  fruits  spoken  of  are  the  fruits  of  the  Spirit,  as 
love,  joy,  peace,  long-suffering,  gentleness,  good- 
ness, faith,  meekness,  temperance — against  which 
there  is  no  law. — Gal.  v.  22,  23.  He  says  that 
those  who  have  extinguished  in  themselves  the 


CH.  VII.]  A   HERMETIC   PHILOSOPHER.  157 

light  of  heaven,  still  testify  their  belief  in  heaven 
by  saying  that  such  things  are  in  heaven  as  "  eye 
hath  not  seen,"  &c.,  and  he  might  have  added, 
as  a  recent  writer*  has  done,  that  "  the  Heaven 
of  God  is  not  only  that  which  eye  hath  not  seen, 
but  that  which  eye  shall  never  see." 

This  is  the  true  interpretation,  the  internal 
sense  of  Swedenborg's  reference  to  the  flowers 
and  fruits  of  paradise. 

Why  is  it  that  most  men  are  so  willing  to 
defer  the  joys  of  paradise  to  another  world,  as  if 
they  were  unattainable  here  ?  Is  it  because,  as 
we  commonly  hear  or  read,  they  prefer  the  sen- 
suous to  the  spiritual  fruits,  and  do  not  under- 
stand how  they  may  possess  both,  by  "  using  the 
world  without  abusing  it  ?"/Is  it  because  they 
prefer  the  present  to  the  future,  while  yet  it  is 
certain  that  the  future  is  contained  in  the 
present  ?  ) 

In  paragraph  190,  Heaven  and  Hell,  we 
read — 

"  The  houses  in  which  angels  dwell  are  not 
built  like  the  houses  in  the  world,  but  are  given 
them  gratis  by  the  Lord,  to  every  one  according 
to  their  reception  of  good  and  truth." 

Let  this  be  interpreted  by  the  following  pas- 

*  F.  W.  Robertson,  Third  Series,  Sermons. 


]  58  SWEDENBORG,  [CH.  VII. 

sage  from  PHILO,  simply  understanding  that 
Philo's  theoretic  man  of  virtue  is  Swedenborg's 
angel : 

"  God  has  thought  fit  to  give  as  a  reward  to 
the  virtuous  a  house  thoroughly  well  built  and 
well  put  together  from  the  foundations  to  the 
roof;  and  the  most  natural  house  for  the  soul  is 
the  body,  inasmuch  as  it  does  many  things  neces- 
sary and  useful  for  life,  and  especially  on  account 
of  the  mind  which  has  been  purified  by  perfect 
purifications  ;  and  which,  having  been  initiated 
in  the  divine  mysteries  [has  had  its  internal  sight 
opened,  as  Swedenborg  would  say],  and  having 
learnt  to  dwell  only  among  the  motions  and  pe- 
riodical revolutions  of  the  heavenly  bodies,  God 
has  honored  with  tranquillity,  wishing  it  to  be 
completely  undisturbed  and  exempt  from  any 
contact  of  those  passions  which  the  necessities  of 
the  body  engender."  *  *  *  « This  is  the 
mind  (continues  Philo)  in  which  the  prophet 
[referring  to  Moses]  says  that  God  walks  as  in 
his  palace ;  for  the  mind  of  the  wise  man  [Swe- 
denborg's angel]  is  in  truth  the  palace  and  the 
house  of  God."  *  *  *  *  "But  all  these 
statements  are  uttered  in  a  metaphorical  form, 
and  contain  an  allegorical  meaning." 

I  consider   Swedenborg   a  strict  rationalist, 


CH.  VII.]  A   HERMETIC   PHILOSOPHER.  159 

when  rightly  understood,  and  not  mystical  at  all 
except  in  the  form  of  his  writings. 

The  concluding  passage  of  the  work  on  Heaven 
and  Hell  was  no  doubt  expressly  designed  as  a 
caution  to  the  reader,  that  the  whole  subject  of 
the  book  is  to  be  "  reasonably  learned  and  natu- 
rally understood,"  as  Swedenborg  expresses  him- 
self in  a  letter  to  Dr.  Oetinger. 

Par.  603  :  "  What  has  been  said  in  this  work 
concerning  heaven,  the  world  of  spirits,  and  hell, 
will  be  obscure  to  those  who  are  not  in  the  de- 
light [affection  or  love]  of  knowing  spiritual 
truths,  but  clear  to  those  who  are  in  that  delight, 
especially  to  those  who  are  in  the  love  of  truth, 
for  the  sake  of  truth,  that  is,  who  love  truth  'be- 
cause it  is  truth  /  for,  whatever  is  loved  enters 
with  light  into  the  idea  of  the  mind,  especially 
truth,  when  it  is  loved,  because  all  truth  is  in 
light." 

Swedenborg  might  well  have  concluded  his 
work  in  the  language  of  a  great  man  who 
flourished  a  century  before  him,  whose  works  he 
must  necessarily  have  studied,  for  "he  read 
every  thing,"  but  whom  he  never  alludes  to. 

"  If  the  way  that  leads  to  this  [spiritual  state] 
seem  arduous,  still,  it  may  be  trod :  and  arduous 
it  must  be,  since  it  is  so  rarely  found.  For,  if 


160  SWEDENBOKG,  [CH.  VII 

our  supreme  good  were  at  hand,  and  could  be 
easily  attained,  how  should  it  be  neglected  by 
almost  all  ?  But  all  excellent  things  are  as  diffi- 
cult as  rare." 

Books  of  alchemy  and  Hermetic  philosophy 
are  filled  with  references  to  two  certain  things, 
very  uncertainly  known,  called  the  sun  and  moon, 
which  are  also  called  active  and  passive,  agent 
and  patient,  and  hundreds  of  other  names ;  and 
great  care  is  taken  to  set  forth  their  mystical 
unity  as  an  origin,  or  originating  principle,  whence 
proceed  innumerable  effects.  Thus,  also,  Sweden- 
borg  has  much  to  say  of  the  marriage  of  the  good 
and  true  and  of  its  happy  fruits.  The  two  things 
are  supposed  to  be  attributes  of  one  thing,  in  an 
indissoluble  trinity,  holding  the  whole  world  in 
a  nut-shell,  no  larger  than  the  alchemist's  egg, 
whatever  that  is. 

I  cannot  positively  say  that  Swedenborg  had 
reference  to  the  sun  and  moon  of  the  alchemists 
in  paragraph  1529,  Heavenly  Arcana ;  but  in 
that  paragraph  he  says, — "  It  is  perfectly  known 
in  Heaven  [meaning  to  men  in  the  angelic  state], 
but  not  so  in  the  world  of  spirits,  whence  so  great 
a  Light  [as  he  had  just  been  treating  of]  comes, 


CH.  VIL]  A   HERMETIC   PHILOSOPHER.  161 

viz.,  that  it  is  from  the  Lord ;  and  what  is  sur- 
prising, the  Lord  appears  in  the  third  Heaven,  to 
the  celestial  angels  as  a  Sun,  and  to  the  spiritual 
angels  as  a  Moon"  In  the  succeeding  para- 
graph he  adds,  that  "  the  Sun  signifies  the  celes- 
tial principle  [which  he  calls  good],  and  the  moon, 
the  spiritual  principle"  [which  he  calls  truth]. 
He  then  adds,  that,  "  By  virtue  of  the  Lord's 
Light  in  Heaven  there  appear  wonderful  things, 
which  cannot  be  expressed,  being  so  innumer- 
able." 

To  understand  these  expressions,  the  reader 
must  study  Swedenborg's  view  of  the  three  na- 
tures in  man,  the  natural,  spiritual,  and  celestial, 
the  last  being  in  fact  a  state  of  grace,  when  the 
soul  is,  as  it  were,  lifted  out  of  the  body,  and 
death  disappears,  or  so  far  loses  its  character  that 
if  it  is  not  entirely  lost  sight  of  it  becomes  a  mere 
transition  event,  a  "  mystical  passage,"  from  an 
apparent  to  a  real  life,  from  a  life  in  time  to 
eternal  life,  the  entrance  into  which  involves  the 
negation  of  the  apparent,  or,  in  other  words,  self- 
denial  in  accordance  with  the  Scriptures.  But 
there  is  a  true  and  a  false  self-denial.  Renounce 
and  realize,  says  the  true  doctrine  ;  whereas  the 
false  says,  renounce  to  realize,  this  latter  being  no 
renunciation  at  all,  but  a  mere  prudential  calcu- 


162  SWEDENBOKG,  [On.  VII. 

lation  of  profits.  The  essence  of  the  distinction 
lies  in  the  import  of  the  two  words,  mid  and  to, 
as  above  used,  the  difference  having  the  power 
of  a  differential  in  the  calculus. 

Let  the  student  see  the  sun  through  the  fixed 
assy mp tote,  and  the  moon  through  the  change- 
able hyperbola,  and  seize  their  dependence,  one 
upon  the  other,  or  their  connection,  one  with  the 
other  in  the  cone, — of  course,  regarding  this  as  a 
figure. 

If  the  readers  of  Swedenborg  imagine  they 
have  a  clearer  idea  of  Swedenborg's  sun  and 
moon,  than  the  Hermetic  writers  had,  or  sup- 
posed they  had,  of  their  sun  and  moon,  I  must 
think  they  are  mistaken. 

Swedenborg  should  not  be  taken  literally. 
Those  who  understand  him  literally  must  be  ab- 
solutely stultified.  The  reader  must  find  the 
spirit  by  which  he  wrote.  If  he  fails  in  this  he 
will  read  to  no  purpose,  except,  indeed,  that 
Swedenborg's  external  sense  (to  use  his  own  lan- 
guage) is  good ;  that  is,  he  everywhere  recom- 
mends truth  and  goodness,  charity  and  love.  No 
one  can  be  injured  by  reading  him  literally,  but  his 
real  sense  is  as  little  on  the  surface  as  he  thought 
that  of  Genesis  itself.  A  general  reader  would 
suppose  that  Swedenborg  meant  by  the  expression, 


CH.  VII.]  A  HERMETIC  PHILOSOPHER.  163 

the  other  life,  some  life  other  than  a  life  in  this 
world,  a  life  in  another  world  than  this  in  which 
we  live.  But  he  means  the  higher  life  in  this 
world  and  not  out  of  it ;  a  life  of  reason  and  con- 
science, of  truth  and  virtue,  of  "  good  and  chari- 
ty," in  contradistinction  to  a  life  in  the  lower  af- 
fections and  passions. 

At  the  hazard  of  repetition  I  must  desire  the 
reader  to  consider  attentively  Swedenborg's  no- 
tion of  there  being  three  natures  in  man,  and 
explain  what  he  says  by  his  own  theory.  The 
whole  may  be  rejected  if  the  reader  sees  fit ;  but 
still,  Swedenborg  ought  to  be  judged  by  his  own 
rules.  Speaking  of  the  three  natures,  or  three 
degrees  of  life,  as  he  sometimes  calls  them,  he 
says,  par.  3747,  Heavenly  Arcana : 

"I  have  been  instructed  concerning  these 
three  degrees  of  life  in  man, — that  it  is  the  last 
degree  of  life  which  is  called  the  external  or  natu- 
ral man,  by  which  degree  man  is  like  the  animals 
as  to  concupiscencies  and  phantasies.  And  that 
the  next  degree  of  life  is  what  is  called  the  internal 
and  rational  man,  by  which  man  is  superior  to 
the  animals,  for  by  virtue  thereof  he  can  think 
and  will  what  is  good  and  true,  and  have  do- 
minion over  the  natural  man,  by  restraining  and 
also  rejecting  its  concupiscencies,  and  the  phan- 


164  SWEDENBOKG,  [Cfl.  VII. 

tasies  thence  derived ;  and,  moreover,  by  reflect- 
ing within  himself  concerning  heaven,  yea,  con- 
cerning the  Divine  Being,  which  the  brute 
animals  are  altogether  incapable  of  doing.  And 
that  the  third  degree  of  life  is  what  is  most  un- 
known to  man,  although  it  is  that  through  which 
the  Lord  flows  into  the  rational  mind,  thus  giving 
man  a  faculty  of  thinking  as  a  man,  and  also 
conscience,  and  perception  of  what  is  good  and 
true,  and  elevation  from  the  Lord  towards  him- 
self." 

In  The  True  Christian  Religion,  page  37, 
Swedenborg  says,  on  this  same  subject : 

"  The  perfection  of  life  consists  not  in  thought, 
but  in  the  perception  of  truth  from  the  light  of 
truth.  The  differences  of  the  life  with  men  may 
be  thence  ascertained ;  for  there  are  some  who, 
as  soon  as  they  hear  the  truth  perceive  that  it  is 
truth.  [These  are  in  the  highest  life,  or  what 
Swedenborg  calls  the  celestial  life,  and  they  are 
his  angels,  when  doctrine  and  life  are  united.] 
There  are  others  (says  he)  who  do  not  perceive 
truth,  but  conclude  it  from  confirmations  by  ap- 
pearances. [This  is  what  he  calls  the  middle  or  ra- 
tional state,  in  which  men  reason  about  truth  and 
become  skilful  in  the  sciences,  where  they  stand 
as  it  were  upon  the  threshold  of  the  celestial  state, 


CH.  VII.]  A  HERMETIC   PHILOSOPHER.  165 

but  do  not,  in  virtue  of  mere  science,  enter  into 
that  state,  into  which  the  simple  and  true  may 
enter  even  without  science.  In  the  celestial  state 
men  do  not  reason  about  the  truth  they  see,  be- 
cause it  is  a  possession.  The  student  may  find 
the  idea  in  Plato's  Theaetetus.  A  sense  of  this 
possession  constitutes  the  heavenly  or  celestial 
state,  that  is,  the  angelic  state.  The  reader  may 
dispute  the  fact  of  there  being  such  a  state,  if  he 
pleases  :  I  am  only  stating  the  theory  by  which 
Swedenborg  ought  to  be  interpreted.  The  low- 
est state  of  man,  in  this  same  connection,  Swe- 
denborg says,  is  with  those  "  who  believe  a  thing 
to  be  true  because  it  was  asserted  by  a  man  of 
authoritv." 

p 

A  writer  of  vast  penetration  and  power  of 
reasoning  had  set  forth  these  identical  distinc- 
tions in  1677,  a  century  prior  to  Swedenborg's 
day,  in  the  following  words  : 

'  We  perceive  many  things,  and  form  univer- 
sal notions  from  single  things  represented  to  us 
through  the  senses,  mutilated,  confused,  and  with- 
out relation  to  the  intellect;  and  also  (we  form 
them)  from  signs ;  for  example,  by  reading  or 
hearing  certain  words,  we  call  things  to  mind, 
and  form  certain  ideas  of  them  like  those  by 
which  we  imagine  things.  These  I  will  in  future 


166  SWEDENBOKG,  [Cfl.  VII. 

call  knowledge  of  the  first  kind.  [This,  I  will 
remark,  is  Swedenborg's  lowest  kind  of  knowl- 
edge, accessible  to  all  men,  but  full  of  error.] 
Secondly  (says  this  ingenious  author),  we  form 
them  from  our  having  universal  notions  and  ade- 
quate ideas  of  the  properties -of  things,  and  this  I 
call  reason  and  knowledge  of  the  second  kind. 
[This  is  Swedenborg'  middle  state,  where  men  of 
science  are  found.  The  author  proceeds :]  Be- 
sides these  two  kinds  of  knowledges,  there  is  a 
third,  which  I  will  call  intuitive  knowledge. 
And  this  kind  of  knowing  proceeds  (or  descends) 
from  the  adequate  idea  of  the  formal  essence  of 
certain  attributes  of  God,  to  an  adequate  knowl- 
edge of  the  essence  of  things." 

This  last  kind  of  knowledge  is  what  Sweden- 
borg calls  celestial :  its  possession  is  realized  as 
heavenly,  and  it  elevates  a  man  from  the  natural 
and  rational  state  into  the  celestial,  while  yet  in 
the  body.  Thus  he  says,  speaking  of  this  state, 
par.  3884,  Heavenly  Arcana  : 

"Let  it  be  noted  that,  although  I  was  in 
Heaven,  still  I  was  not  out  of  myself,  ~but  in  the 
body,  for  Heaven  is  in  man,  in  whatsoever  place 
he  be  ;  and  thus,  when  it  pleases  the  Lord,  a  man 
may  be  in  Heaven,  and  yet  not  be  withdrawn 
from  the  body." 


CH.  VII.]  A   HEEMETIC   PHILOSOPHEK.  167 

Here  is  an  explicit  statement  of  fact,  as  found- 
ed upon  an  equally  explicit  statement  of  doc- 
trine, addressed  to  our  experience  and  faculty  for 
discovering  or  verifying  truth. 

Swedenborg's  readers  may  fancy,  while  pe- 
rusing his  pages,  that  they  are  reading  of  another 
world  than  this  we  live  in  (I  do  not  say  on),  but 
they  are  mistaken. 

In  the  same  way,  when  Swedenborg  speaks 
of  man  in  contradistinction  to  angels,  he  means 
man,  not  in  the  highest  sense,  for  in  this  sense 
the  Lord  is  man  ;  but  in  the  lowest  sense,  that  is, 
he  means  the  natural  man,  as  yet  unawakened  to 
the  infinite  depth  of  his  spiritual  nature. 

In  like  manner,  when  Swedenborg  speaks  of 
what  takes  place  after  death,  in  by  far  the  major- 
ity of  cases,  he  refers  to  the  transition  from  a 
natural  to  a  spiritual  life,  when  "  old  things  pass 
away,  and  all  things  become  new." 

Angels  in  this  sense  die  to  the  world,  that  is, 
they  have  taken  leave  of  the  love  of  the  world,  as 
opposed  to  the  love  of  God.  In  this  sense  the 
Alchemists  speak  of  the  Stone,  as  "  the  cut-throat 
of  covetousness,  ambition,"  &c.  To  the  "  natu- 
ral man  "  this  may  be  "  foolishness."  But  if  we 
would  understand  Swedenborg,  we  must  take 
into  view  his  actual  opinions  of  the  nature  of  man, 


168  SWEDENBOKG,  [On.  VII. 

and  especially  have  regard  to  its  higher  or  inner 
developments,  and  not  merely  man  in  his  lower 
and  sensuous  character,  groping  upon  the  surface 
of  the  earth,  looking  outwardly  for  that  which 
can  only  be  found  within. 

"There  appertain  (says  Swedenborg,  par. 
1893,  Heavenly  Arcana)  to  every  man  an  internal 
man,  a  rational  man,  which  is  intermediate,  and 
an  external  man,  which  is  properly  called  the 
natural  man."  Death  is  regarded  as  a  birth  : 
thus  the  lower  life  is  supposed  to  die  as  the  higher 
life  is  developed.  The  expression,  spirits  from 
the  world,  so  often  used  in  Swedenborg's  writ- 
ings, means  men  who  have  passed  from  the  natu- 
ral to  the  spiritual  life. 

In  what  Swedenborg  says  of  infants  in  the 
spiritual  world,  and  of  their  education  and  growth 
into  "  intelligence  and  wisdom,"  he  is  but  com- 
menting upon  the  doctrine  that  the  kingdom  of 
Heaven  must  be  entered  as  a  little  child.  He  is 
not  treating  of  another  world,  but  of  a  changed 
state  in  this  world.  His  reference  in  such  cases 
to  the  "  former  life  in  the  body,"  is  to  the  natural 
life  as  distinguished  from  the  spiritual  life. 

I  would  have  the  students  of  Swedenborg  con- 
sider, while  reading  his  writings,  that  he  was  a 
man,  writing  to  men  of  man  ;  of  that  man,  if  the 


CH.  VH.]  A   HERMETIC  PHILOSOPHER.  169 

reader  chooses,  whom  he  called  the  Lord,  or  some 
times  the  grand-man  •  and  if  he  asks  specifially 
as  to  his  meaning  in  the  use  of  this  expression, 
the  grand-man,  I  feel  disposed  to  suggest,  in  ad- 
dition to  what  I  have  already  said,  that,  in  Swe- 
denborg's  view,  all  the  men  in  the  world,  all  that 
have  been  and  all  that  shall  be,  are  modifications 
of  one  man,  invisible  in  essence,  but  visible  nev- 
ertheless in  every  human  being ;  for,  we  have 
the  highest  authority  for  it,  the  Lord  is  not  far 
from  any  one  of  us, — in  Him  we  live,  and  move, 
and  have  our  being.  We  do  not  live  in  our- 
selves. "When  we  think  otherwise,  we  virtually 
separate  ourselves  from  the  true  life, — we  virtu- 
ally deny  the  Lord, — and  to  that  extent  are  truly 
dead  while  living.  This  I  understand  to  be  Swe- 
denborg's  doctrine.  To  know  the  Lord  is  to  be 
alive  indeed.  To  be  ignorant  of  the  true  life  is  a 
species  of  death,  to  which  we  must  die  in  order 
to  live. 

The  readers  of  Swedenborg  may  remember 
his  description  of  what  he  calls  the  punishment 
of  the  veil,  in  the  spiritual  world — paragraphs 
963  and  964,  Heavenly  Arcana; — to  understand 
which  we  must  consider  that,  according  to  Swe- 
denborg, to  be  in  Heaven  is  to  be  in  the  presence 

of  the  Lord — that  is,  of  God ;  and  hence  the  great- 
8 


170  SWEDENBOKG,  [Cn.  VII. 

est  misery  is  to  be  shut  out  from  this  presence, — 
and  this  misery  is  even  the  greater  when  man  is 
unconscious  of  it.  Now  this  ignorance  of  the 
Lord  takes  place  in  every  man,  passing  by  the 
reasons  for  it,  in  whom  the  love  of  self  prevails 
over  the  love  of  God,  and  especially  in  every  man 
who  lives  in  sin,  it  being  the  property  of  every 
delusion  of  the  phantasy,  to  draw  a  "  veil,"  as  it 
were,  over  the  inner  eye  of  the  sinner  who,  thence, 
is  shut  out  from  the  sight  of  the  Lord ;  and  this 
is  the  punishment,  as  Swedenborg  calls  it,  of  the 
veil.  In  this  state  men  are  described  as  being 
sensible  of  their  being  under  a  veil,  and  as  mak- 
ing efforts  to  rid  themselves  of  it  by  "  running 
hither  and  thither,"  and  struggling,  sometimes 
with  mighty  efforts,  to  retain  the  veil,  yet  see 
through  it,  which  is  impossible.  This  merely 
means  that  men  are  sometimes  in  love  with  some- 
thing which  they  know  is  of  the  forbidden  tree ; 
but  as  it  is  but  a  little,  a  very  small  matter,  as 
they  fancy,  they  hope  to  reach  Heaven  with  it, 
when  the  nature  of  Heaven  excludes  all  sin,  and 
thus  excludes  those  who  adhere  to  any  darling 
"  phantasy  "  not  admitted  there. 

The  doctrine  is  simple,  and  well  known ;  and 
all  that  Swedenborg  says  of  it  is  adapted  to  the 
comprehension  of  a  child,  only  he  has  thrown  an 


CH.  VII.]  A  HERMETIC  PHILOSOPHER.  171 

air  of  mystery  over  it,  as  if  he  saw  beyond  this 
world  and  was  treating  of  another.  But  this 
world,  in  Swedenborg  sense,  is  the  world  of  na- 
ture, while  the  "  other  "  is  the  world  of  grace, 
yet  in  this  world  also.  The  difference  is  that  be- 
tween a  "  man  of  the  world,"  and  a  holy  man, 
the  former  being  willing  to  secure  the  supposed 
advantages  of  external  fortune  by  condescensions 
compromising  his  spiritual  life,  while  the  latter 
lives  in  the  fear  of  God  even  more  than  in  the 
hope  of  Heaven,  though  Heaven  is  a  fruit  of  this 
very  fear. 

To  enter  into  wisdom  is  to  enter  into  inno- 
cence, and  innocence  is  represented  by  childhood ; 
but  Swedenborg  distinguishes  very  sharply  be- 
tween the  children  of  nature  and  the  children  of 
grace  ; — I  use  this  word  for  convenience,  but  not 
in  any  fantastical  or  fanatical  sense.  To  be  truly 
in  grace  is  to  be  a  true  man. 

Swedenborg  utters,  indeed,  some  very  strange 
notions  about  seeing  people  in  the  "  other  life," 
that  is,  after  death ;  saying,  that  they  do  not 
know  otherwise  than  that  they  are  still  living  in 
the  world.  This  may  refer  to  the  condition  of 
some  men  after  a  solemn  initiation  into  some  so- 
ciety. I  admit  also  that  he  seems  to  give  very 
positive  statements  of  the  condition  of  the  good 


172  SWEDENBOKG,  [C1H.  VII. 

and  the  bad  in  a  life  beyond  the  grave  literally 
understood ;  but  these  must  be  regarded  as  his 
mere  opinions,  on  a  level  with  the  opinions  of 
Plato  at  the  close  of  the  Republic,  or  with  the 
dream  of  Scipio.  It  is  highly  interesting  to  know 
the  opinions  of  thoughtful  men  upon  such  a  topic, 
but  we  enter  into  a  voluntary  vassalage  when  we 
accept  any  such  representations  as  substantial  ir- 
refragable truth. 

In  paragraphs  2308  and  2309,  Swedenborg, 
as  everywhere  else  in  his  writings  on  such  points, 
merely  expresses  his  own  opinions,  formed,  in- 
deed, under  a  sense  of  the  presence  of  the  Lord. 
"  ISTo  one,"  says  he,  "  ever  suffers  punishment  in 
another  life  on  account  of  hereditary  evil,  be- 
cause it  is  not  his  ;  consequently  he  is  not  blam- 
able  for  it,"  &c.,  &c.  And  then  he  speaks  of 
"  the  nature  of  the  education  of  infants  in  Heav- 
en, viz.,  that  by  the  intelligence  of  truth,  and 
the  wisdom  of  good,  they  are  introduced  into  the 
angelic  life,  which  is  Love  to  the  Lord,  and  mu- 
tual Love,  in  which  is  innocence  ;  but  how  con- 
trary to  this  the  education  of  infants  on  earth  is, 
may  appear  from  the  following  example  amongst 
many  others  which  might  be  mentioned  :  On  a 
time  I  was  in  the  street  of  a  great  city,  and  saw 
little  children  fighting  together  ;  a  crowd  of  peo- 


CH.  VII.]  A  HERMETIC   PHILOSOPHER.  173 

pie  immediately  gathered  round  them,  and  be- 
held the  sight  with  much  satisfaction,  and  I  was 
informed  that  parents  themselves  sometimes  ex- 
cite their  children  to  such  combats ;  the  good 
spirits  and  angels,  who  saw  these  things  through 
my  eyes  [that  is,  his  own  feelings  and  thoughts, 
which  he  nevertheless  attributed  to  the  Lord], 
held  them  in  such  aversion  that  I  was  made 
[that  is,  he  felt]  sensible  of  the  horror  they  ex- 
pressed, especially  at  this  circumstance,  that 
parents  should  incite  their  children  to  such 
things ;  they  [the  spirits  and  angels,  that  is,  his 
feelings  and  thoughts]  declared  that,  by  so  doing, 
parents  extinguish  in  the  young  bosoms  of  their 
children  all  mutual  love,  and  all  innocence." 

This  I  suppose  to  be  the  way  to  read  and 
understand  Swedenborg.  He  called  his  feelings 
and  thoughts,  attributing  them  to  the  Lord, 
angels  and  spirits,  and  these  told  him  thus  and 
so ;  and  by  the  same  rule  we  must  interpret 
Swedenborg,  for  he  was  one  of  us,  and  saw 
nothing  in  the  universe  but  what  we  may  see  if 
we  will  lay  off  the  veils  which  shut  the  truth 
from  us.  It  is  the  simplest  thing  in  the  world  ; 
but,  simple  as  it  is,  let  the  reader  be  sure  it  is 
sufficiently  vast  in  its  consequences. 


SWEDENBOKG,  [On.  VIII. 


CHAPTEK    VIII. 

THE  followers  of  Swedenborg  of  the  present 
day,  or  many  of  them,  ask  how  certain  portions 
of  his  writings,  exhibiting  deep  truths  of  life  be- 
yond the  reach,  as  they  think,  of  ordinary  men, 
are  to  be  explained,  except  on  the  supposition 
that  he  was  especially  illuminated  from  heaven ; 
and  they  ask  also,  how  we  can  account  for  many 
of  the  stories  connected  with  his  name,  which 
they  think  well  authenticated  and  out  of  the 
ordinary  course  of  events,  except  on  the  supposi- 
tion of  supernatural  aid. 

In  the  first  place,  no  one  is  obliged  to  explain 
every  thing  that  takes  place  in  the  world,  or  sup- 
pose a  miraculous  interposition.  There  are  many 
things — an  infinity  of  things — of  which  men  can 
give  little  or  no  account  to  themselves  or  to 
others.  In  the  next  place,  nothing  is  explained 
in  a  philosophical  sense  by  referring  it  to  super- 
natural power.  This  is  a  pious  feeling — a  re- 


CH.  VIII.]          A   HERMETIC   PHILOSOPHER.  175 

ligious  explanation — but  it  extends  equally  to  all 
things,  and  for  this  reason  to  nothing  in  particu- 
lar. When  we  say  that  all  things  are  providen- 
tially under  the  government  of  God,  we  include 
equally  the  things  we  know,  and  the  things  we 
do  not  know  ; — the  things  which  we  say,  philo- 
sophically, we  understand,  and  those  which  we 
do  not  understand.  All  philosophical  knowledge, 
strictly  speaking,  refers  to  second  or  intermediate 
causes,  more  properly  called  conditions,  under 
which  phenomena  are  observed  to  take  place. 
The  knowledge  of  such  conditions,  or  second 
causes,  does  not  take  our  knowledge  from  under 
the  veil  of  mystery  involved  in  the  idea  of  the 
one  cause  which  is  all  in  all,  both  Alpha  and 
Omega.  Nothing  is  more  fallacious,  therefore, 
than  the  idea  that  we  are  attaining  philosophical 
knowledge  by  referring  particular  things  to  God, 
since  all  things  must  be  referred  to  God,  both 
what  we  know  philosophically,  that  is,  by  second 
causes,  and  what  we  do  not  know.  This  may  be 
easily  understood  by  considering  any  one  species 
of  knowledge,  known  to  one  man  and  not  to 
another.  It  is  plain  that  the  knowledge  of  the 
one  and  the  ignorance  of  the  other  does  not 
change  the  relation  of  the  thing  in  respect  to 
God,  but  this  must  remain  on  the  contrary,  one 


176  SWEDENBOKG,  [CH.  VIII. 

thing  in  relation  to  God  and  God's  providential 
government. 

Plato  refers  to  this  principle  in  the  Dialogue 
on  the  nature  of  things  (Cratylus.  under  the 
Hermetic  form  of  an  inquiry  into  language), 
where  he  calls  the  disposition  to  explain  things 
by  the  "machinery  of  the  gods,"  used  by  "writers 
of  tragedies,"  the  "  not  very  clever  evasions  on 
the  part  of  him  who  is  not  willing  (or  not  able) 
to  give  a  reason"  for  the  original  nature  of 
things. 

In  the  third  place,  many  things  that  are  very 
mysterious  to  some  men  are,  philosophically 
speaking,  very  plain  to  others,  and  may  become 
so  to  themselves  by  experience,  study,  and  con- 
templation ;  and  we  may  remember  particularly 
that  marvels  in  relation  to  uncommon  men,  re- 
ported by  the  ignorant  and  the  credulous,  are  ex- 
tremely apt  to  be  without  foundation. 

There  is  one  recourse  in  determining  such 
difficulties,  entirely  open  to  a  man  of  plain  sense, 
which  the  Swedenborgians  are  in  danger  of  clos- 
ing up  in  their  desire  to  exalt  Swedenborg  above 
humanity  ;  and  that  is,  a  belief  that  he  was  not 
only  a  fallible  man  himself,  but  that  he  lived 
among  fallible  men,  from  whom  we  have  received 
such  relations  as  appear  out  of  the  order  of  na- 


CH.  Vni.]  A   HERMETIC   PHILOSOPHER.  177 

ture.  In  addition  to  -which  we,  ourselves,  who 
may  feel  called  upon  to  judge  of  these  matters, 
are  fallible  also ;  and  it  does  not  become  us  to 
assign  supernatural  powers  to  any  mortal  man, 
as  if  we  could  infallibly  determine  the  limits  and 
powers  of  nature  in  man. 

No  one  can,  in  any  proper  sense,  be  said  to 
be  exalted  except  in  Ms  nature,  and  according  to 
it.  A  man  may  become  "  more  a  man  "  and  be 
honored  accordingly;  but  he  cannot  become 
more  than  a  man  without  severing  his  connec- 
tion with  the  race  and  losing  the  sympathies  of 
his  brethren. 

Swedenborg  was  a  true  man,  greatly  yet  alto- 
gether a  man ;  a  wise  man,  indeed,  but  still  a 
man  ;  and  it  is  certain  that  he  must  haye  desired 
that  his  doctrines  should  be  studied  and  received 
upon  their  own  ground,  and  not  upon  his  au- 
thority. 

The  members  of  the  "  Society  "  of  Angels  of 
which  Swedenborg  speaks,  veiled  their  doctrines 
expressly  with  a  view,  as  one  object  undoubted 
ly,  of  not  veiling  nature  ;  that  is,  they  desired 
that  no  one  should  appeal  to  their  writings  as 
authority  for  eternal  truth,  which  can  only  be 
taught  by  the  eternal  itself,  but  should  be  com- 
pelled to  look  through  and  beyond  their  writings 
8* 


178 


SWEDENBORG,  [Cn.  VIII. 


to  the  same  inexhaustible  fountain  (the  "  Foun- 
tain" of  Trevisan,  the  alchemist)  whence  they 
themselves  had  drawn  a  doctrine  of  life  and  love. 

There  is  deep  significance  in  the  words  re- 
corded in  John  16.  7 :  It  is  expedient  for  you  that 
I  go  away :  for  if  I  go  not  away,  the  Comforter 
will  not  come  unto  you  •  but  if  I  depart  I  will 
send  him  unto  you. 

This  Comforter  is  called  in  the  13th  verse  of 
the  same  chapter,  the  "  Spirit  of  Truth : "  [as  also 
in  ch.  14.  v.  17.]  By  this  Spirit  of  Truth  we 
may  now  understand,  that  so  long  as  the  apostles 
had  the  bodily  presence  of  Christ  with  them,  and 
could  look  to  him  for  a  decision  upon  all  ques- 
tions concerning  truth,  they  would  have  no 
grounds  of  teaching  from  any  light,  on  questions 
not  specifically  settled  by  him. 

To  the  end,  then,  that  the  apostles  should 
have  the  infinite  source  of  truth  opened  to  them, 
it  was  necessary  that  its  representative  in  the 
humanity  of  the  Lord  should  be  withdrawn. 

It  is  not  otherwise  now.  We,  too,  in  this 
age,  need  some  freedom  from  the  letter,  in  order 
that  the  spirit  may  be  liberated ;  for  so  long  as 
any  one  looks  to  a  record  as  containing  the  whole 
body  of  truth,  he  draws  a  veil  over  his  eyes,  and 
the  "fountain"  of  truth  becomes  invisible. 


CH.  VIII.]         A   HERMETIC   PHILOSOPHER.  179 

Lord  Bacon  thought  it  an  injury  to  the  pro- 
gress of  knowledge  when  any  science  became  re- 
duced into  formularies  supposed  to  embrace  the 
whole  body  of  the  science.  If  this  is  so  of  a 
special  science,  what  must  be  thought  of  the  at- 
tempt to  put  limits  upon  the  science  of  science, 
the  queen  of  the  sciences  ?  This  science  emphat- 
ically refuses  to  be  confined  in  old  bottles  and  is 
forever  bursting  them. 

What  then  is  the  true  "  fixation "  of  the  mat- 
ter of  the  Philosopher's  Stone, — of  which  so 
much  is  said  in  Hermetic  books  ?  What  is  it  but 
the  "law  of  liberty,"  wherewith  the  Spirit  of 
Christ  doth  make  us  free  ;  by  which  we  are  free 
even  to  remember  that  Christ  himself,  the  great- 
est teacher  the  world  ever  saw,  left  no  writing 
behind  him  whatever. 

In  this  spirit,  as  it  appears  to  me,  the  Her- 
metic philosophers,  one  and  all,  virtually  say  to 
us  :  Read  our  writings,  indeed ;  we  have  written 
them  for  you,  but  "  test  them  by  the  possibility 
of  nature  "  [Sandivogius]  ;  and  "  do  not  attempt 
to  practise  upon  our  bare  words"  [Eyrseneus 
Philaletha]. 

In  one  word,  every  man  dies  alone.  We 
brought  nothing  into  this  world,  and  it  is  certain 
we  can  carry  nothing  out.  This  ought  to  warn 


180  SWEDENBORG,  [C&.  VIII. 

us  that  nothing  in  this  world  can  have  any  other 
than  an  instrumental  value,  and  among  the  things 
of  this  world  are  the  books  of  so-called  philoso- 
phers. When  we  make  them  other  than  instru- 
ments and  depend  upon  them  as  the  substantial 
truth,  we  lean  upon  broken  reeds  or  upon  reeds 
that  shall  surely  be  broken. 

But  every  one  must  determine  for  himself  the 
difference  between  liberty  and  license, — between 
genuine  freedom  and  positive  slavery. 

Here  lurks  the  peculiar  danger  of  semi-en- 
lightened times,  when  men  attain  light  enough  to 
distinguish  or  to  suspect  error,  but  want  the 
power  of  discovering  truth.  This  condition  is 
perfectly  described  in  the  7th  book  of  Plato's 
Republic,  under  the  story  of  the  supposititious 
child, — nurtured  and  protected  by  those  who  were 
not  his  parents,  for  whom  his  respect  declined 
when  he  discovered  the  cheat ;  while  yet,  unable 
to  find  his  true  parents,  he  fell  a  victim  to  "  flat- 
terers," and  was  ruined. 

A  very  useful  volume  might  perhaps  be  writ- 
ten on  interpretation^  but  for  the  single  difficulty, 
that  such  a  volume  might  need  to  be  interpreted. 
Indeed,  our  libraries  are  already  filled  with  works 
of  this  kind, — critical  works,  and  commentaries 
without  number,  witli  commentaries  upon  com- 


GH.  Vm.]          A   HERMETIC   PHILO8OPHEB.  181 

meDtaries.  The  readers  of  Swedenborg's  inter- 
pretations may  fancy  that  those  writings  are  ex- 
empt from  the  universal  law,  yet  many  books 
have  already  appeared  on  the  exposition  of  Swe- 
denborg's works. 

It  was  the  same  with  the  Mysterium  Magnum 
of  Jacob  Behmen,  which  is  an  interpretation  of 
the  Pentateuch  and  other  parts  of  the  sacred 
writings. 

Jacob  Behmen  wrote  as  magisterially,  claim- 
ing an  inspired  insight,  as  any  one  who  ever  at- 
tempted an  explanation  of  any  part  of  the  Holy 
Scriptures.  He  claimed  an  illumination  from  at 
least  as  high  a  source  as  Swedenborg  could  pos- 
sibly pretend  to,  and  yet  who  has  ever  looked 
into  his  interpretations,  without  feeling  at  once  the 
need  of  an  interpreter  of  the  interpreter  ?  The 
Pentateuch  is  light  itself  compared  to  the  dark- 
ness of  Jacob  Behmen's  interpretations. 

In  what  now  do  Swedenborg  and  Behmen 
agree  ?  Certainly  in  nothing  but  a  mutual  denial 
of  the  letter.  But  in  this  respect  they  were  both 
preceded  by  multitudes  of  interpreters,  equally 
denying  the  letter  with  themselves,  and  yet  who 
has  given  us  a  light  to  be  depended  upon  ? 

With  regard  to  the  letter,  who  has  been  more 


182  SWEDENBORG,  [Cfl.  VIII. 

absolute  in  its  denial  than  Origen,  who  tells  us, 
addressing  us  from  the  middle  of  the  third  cen- 
tury, that  "  the  source  of  many  evils  lies  in  ad- 
hering to  the  carnal  or  external  part  of  Scripture ! 
Those  who  do  so  (says  he)  shall  not  attain  to  the 
kingdom  of  God.  Let  us  seek  therefore  after 
the  spirit  and  substantial  fruits  of  the  "Word, 
which  are  hidden  and  mysterious  ;  "  and  he  says 
also  that  "  the  Scriptures  are  of  little  use  to  those 
who  understand  them  as  they  are  written." 

In  this  view  Origen  flooded  his  time  with  rolls 
of  books  to  interpret  the  Scripture,  not  according 
to  the  letter,  but  according  to  the  spirit ; — but 
according  to  what  spirit  ?  Here  lies  the  original 
question,  which  neither  Origen  nor  any  other 
man  has  ever  settled  or  can  settle,  except  for 
himself. 

In  truth,  any  book  whatever,  that  is  read  at 
all,  calls  for  and  meets  with  some  sort  of  inter- 
pretation, which  in  the  last  resort  is  the  judgment 
of  the  individual  reader.  "When  individual  opin- 
ions are  multiplied  in  favor  of  any  work,  it  be- 
comes a  standard  work  :  if  a  work  be  generally 
condemned,  it  disappears,  unless  in  cases  where 
it  has  a  depth  of  real  meaning  beyond  the  pene- 
tration of  ordinary  readers.  In  this  case,  an  ap- 
proval from  half  a  dozen  thinkers  in  each  age 


CH.  VIII.]  A   HERMETIC   PHILOSOPHER.  183 

may  carry  the  work  down  to  the  latest  posterity, 
and  in  its  progress  it  may  be  said  to  accumulate 
testimonials  in  its  favor,  so  as  largely  to  outnum- 
ber any  one  generation.  That  any  work  should 
live  for  many  ages  is  undoubtedly  something  in 
its  favor ;  and  yet  Lord  Bacon  has  compared 
time  to  a  river,  which  carries  down  the  scum,  but 
allows  the  more  weighty  and  valuable  substances 
to  sink  to  the  bottom. 

The  oldest  books  in  the  world, — Hindoo,  Per- 
sian, Egyptian,  Jewish, — are  all  obscure,  and  ad- 
mit of  various  interpretations,  and  this  may  be 
one  reason  for  their  preservation  ;  for  a  dark, 
mystical  book  tasks  the  inventive  faculties  to  dis- 
cover its  meaning,  an  agreeable  exercise  in  itself, 
and  as  vagueness  allows  a  latitude  of  interpreta- 
tion, more  individuals  may  thus  please  themselves, 
perhaps  the  chief  secret  of  approbation,  by  as- 
signing a  meaning  to  it ;  and  under  such  circum- 
stances it  is  not  strange  that  approving  interpret- 
ers are  multiplied. 

All  of  the  great  poems  in  the  world  are  more 
or  less  allegorical,  and  are  addressed  to  both  the 
reason  and  the  imagination  of  man,  where  inter- 
pretations are  multiplied  according  to  the  variety 
of  tastes  and  states  of  cultivation  brought  to  the 
task,  or  the  pleasure,  as  may  be,  of  interpretation. 


184  SWEDENBORG,  [Cfl.  VIII. 

No  one  at  all  acquainted  with  Homer  imagines 
that  the  interest  he  commands  in  the  world  is  at 
all  due  to  the  historical  element  found  in  him,  the 
reality  of  which  has,  indeed,  been  plausibly  denied 
without  diminishing  in  the  least  the  interest  in 
his  great  poems,  where  his  classical  admirers  find 
pictures  of  life  including  both  worlds,  the  seen 
and  the  unseen.  There  has  always  been  a  class 
of  his  admirers  who  see  in  the  Iliad  and  the 
Odyssey  both  religion  and  philosophy,  and  this 
class  will  continue  in  the  world ;  and  yet  if  those 
who  see  religion  in  Homer  could  be  brought  to- 
gether, they  would  not  at  all  agree  among  them- 
selves, while  each  would  not  the  less  insist  that 
his  own  opinions  are  fully  shadowed  out  by  the 
Grecian  bard. 

What  vast  numbers,  in  like  manner,  have  been 
called,  or  have  allowed  themselves  to  be  called, 
Platonists,  or  admirers  of  Plato ;  while  yet  if  a 
party  of  such  admirers  could  be  brought  together, 
scarce  any  two  individuals  would  propound  the 
same  views  of  the  great  Grecian  intellectual  real- 
ist, who  is,  by  some,  considered  the  most  mysti- 
cal of  idealists. 

If  we  take  the  Sacred  Scriptures,  what  a  field 
is  open  for  this  sort  of  inquiry !  The  so  called 


CH.  VIII.]  A  HEKMETIC   PHILOSOPHEK.  185 

Jewish  Cabala  was  nothing  but  a  sort  of  tradition- 
ary secret  interpretation  of  the  ancient  Hebrew 
Scriptures, — itself  capable  of  expansion  and  con- 
traction according  to  the  genius  of  the  class 
amidst  whom  it  might  fall.  Much  of  the  Cabala, 
it  is  supposed,  was  never  written.  Much  that  was 
written  is  supposed  to  have  been  lost,  but  we 
have  one  remarkable  work  of  Jewish  interpreta- 
tion in  the  writings  of  Philo.  He  denies  the  let- 
ter as  emphatically  as  Swedenborg,  and  interprets 
it  according  to  Ms  spirit.  Does  his  interpretation 
and  that  of  Swedenborg  agree  ?  Certainly,  in  but 
very  few  particulars,  unless  we  force  them  into 
harmony  by  interpretations  of  our  own.  It  is 
true  that  Philo  regards  the  Israelitish  history  as 
symbolical  of  the  progress  of  the  natural  man  to 
the  spiritual  man — from  Egypt  as  the  Land  of 
Darkness,  to  the  Holy  Land  as  the  Land  of  Light, 
— and  gives  us  many  very  acceptable  interpreta- 
tions of  the  books  of  Moses ; — a  little  too  diffuse, 
indeed  (like  Swedenborg  in  this  respect),  often 
tedious,  and  frequently  very  far-fetched  ;  but  in 
many  instances,  as  I  have  said,  very  acceptable 
as  making  sense  of  what  otherwise  seems  very 
unimportant.  He,  too,  as  well  as  Swedenborg, 
uses  the  sun,  by  similitude,  for  the  " mind"  or 
says  that  Moses  so  used  it.  The  wicked  idolaters 


186  SWEDENBOEG,  [Cn.  VIII. 

and  inhabitants  of  Canaan,  who  were  to  be  ex- 
terminated, are  the  bad  passions  and  affections 
of  the  natural  man,  which  must  be  eradicated, 
says  Philo,  before  the  divine  possession,  the  Holy 
Land,  can  be  entered  upon.  But  where  the  two 
writers  differ  from  each  other,  who  shall  decide  ? 
"We  must  not  allow  Swedenborg  to  claim  pre- 
cedence upon  his  own  assertion  that  his  internal 
sight  was  opened  by  the  Lord.  This  is  merely 
his  own  declaration,  and  possibly  Philo  had  what 
was  to  him  as  complete  authority,  but  was  too 
modest  to  place-  it  upon  extraordinary  grounds, — 
appealing  only  to  reason. 

How  are  we  to  judge  between  them  ?  Philo 
was  a  learned  Hebrew,  acquainted  with  the 
writings  of  his  fathers,  and  possibly  in  possession 
of  time-honored  traditions  received  from  the  re- 
puted wise  men  of  his  nation.  Shall  his  inter- 
pretations be  thrown  aside  and  those  of  a  modern 
philosopher  accepted  on  his  mystical  declaration 
that  the  Lord  had  opened  his  internal  sight  and 
privileged  him  to  look  into  what  he  called  the 
spiritual  world  ? 

It  is  plain  that  this  is  a  case  where  every  man 
is  thrown  upon  his  own  spirit  and  must  interpret 
the  interpreters,  and  it  is  not  possible  in  the  na- 
ture of  things  to  supersede  this  necessity  either 


CH.  VIII.]  A  HERMETIC  PHILOSOPHER.  187 

by  volumes  of  interpretations  themselves  or  by 
works  on  the  principles  of  interpretation.  Those 
who  cannot  understand  the  original  may  be  de- 
luded by  either  Philo  or  by  Swedenborg,  or  by 
commentators  in  turn  upon  either  of  these._ 

In  short,  we  cannot  think  by  the  intellect  of 
others  any  more  than  we  can  see  by  their  eyes. 
We  may  do  both  under  certain  conditions  and 
limitations ;  but  in  the  last  resort,  every  man 
must  judge  for  himself. 

As  to  interpretation — eveiy  discourse,  every 
sermon  upon  a  text  of  Scripture,  is  in  some  sense 
an  interpretation  of  Scripture,  and  what  are  all 
organized  sects  in  Christendom  but  expressions 
or  exponents  of  interpretations  of  Scripture  ? 
Luther  interpreted  the  Scripture ;  Calvin  inter- 
preted the  Scripture ;  Arminius,  John  Knox, 
"Wesley — what  are  all  these,  and  hundreds  of 
others,  but  interpreters  of  Scripture  ?  And 
amidst  this  vast  crowd  Swedenborg  comes  for- 
ward and  interprets  the  Scripture,  claiming  for 
this  purpose  a  special  Light  from  the  "  Lord  " — 
denying,  however,  that  there  was  any  thing  mi- 
raculous in  his  age. 

This  diversity  may  show  that  if  the  Scriptures 
are  taken  literally  they  do  not  yield  an  open 
sense  equally  accessible  to  all  who  may  be  equally 


188  SWEDENBOKG,  [Cn.  VIII. 

earnest  in  their  efforts  to  read  aright ;  or,  if  taken 
metaphorically  or  symbolically,  the  spirit  of  in- 
terpretation is  not  universally  recognized. 

The  Catholic  Church  has  acted  upon  the 
opinion  of  Origen  and  others,  Fathers  in  the 
Church,  and  at  one  time  refused  to  allow  the 
laity  access  to  the  letter  of  the  Scripture.  Many 
have  attributed  this  to  sinister  motives,  and  have 
proclaimed  it  a  mere  artifice  to  <gain  power  and 
accumulate  wealth.  But  it  had  no  such  origin. 
The  Fathers  of  the  Church,  observing  the  vast 
diversity  of  individual  opinions,  sought  first  a 
remedy  through  the  judgment  of  a  council,  by 
which  certain  books  were  set  apart  as  authentic 
and  canonical,  and  all  others  had  the  mark  of 
Cain  put  upon  them,  by  which  they  fell  into  dis- 
repute, and  ceased  to  furnish  materials  for  heresy. 
But  this  was  found  to  be  only  a  partial  remedy ; 
for  disputes  arose  upon  the  sense  of  the  retained 
books,  and  these  disputes  it  was  thought  expe- 
dient to  have  determined  by  the  decisions  of 
councils  also,  until  finally  the  authority  of  the 
Church  took  precedence  over  both  individual 
opinions  and  the  literal  reading  of  the  canon. 
But  this  was  not  the  product  of  either  ambition 
or  avarice.  Those  who  think  otherwise  know 


CH.  VIII.]          A   HERMETIC   PHILOSOPHER.  189 

but  little  of  the  spirit  of  such  men  as  Origen  and 
St.  Augustine.  It  was  merely  the  result  of  that 
sort  of  moral  necessity,  under  which  many  men 
labor,  of  looking  to  others,  supposed  to  know,  for 
a  decision  upon  questions  involving  eternal  in- 
terests, under  a  sense  of  inability  to  decide  for 
themselves.  Nowhere  in  the  world  has  a  sense 
of  this  inability  been  more  deeply  felt  than  in 
the  Church  itself,  as  evidence  of  which  the  writ- 
ings of  St.  Augustine  alone  are  sufficient. 

As  the  Church  on  earth  is  composed  of  men, 
it  was  impossible  to  exclude  from  it  human  ele- 
ments and  human  infirmities,  which  in  the  course 
of  time  manifested  themselves  from  a  double 
cause — a  decline  of  earnestness  and  wisdom  in 
the  Church  itself,  and  an  advance  of  intelligence 
and  spirit  among  the  laity.  It  was  unavoidable 
that  this  should  in  time  bring  into  question  the 
doctrine  of  the  infallibility  of  the  Church,  and 
thence  it  followed  with  the  same  certainty  and 
necessity  that  the  old  questions  arose,  questions 
that  occupied  the  Grecian  sages,  and  have  equally 
been  the  subject  of  study  upon  the  banks  of  the 
Nile  and  those  of  the  Ganges. 

The  reformation  was  no  doubt  a  necessary 
product  of  the  ages,  but  its  effects  are  not  con- 
fined to  the  reformers.  It  has  worked  back  upon 


190  SWEDENBOKG,  [On.  VIII. 

the  Catholic  Church,  and  reformed  that  also ; 
for,  in  enlightened  countries,  the  Catholic  Church 
is  not  now  what  it  was  prior  to  the  days  of 
Luther. 

Among  the  reformers  we  find  a  vast  variety 
of  sects,  and  the  number  seems  constantly  in- 
creasing, while,  in  our  day,  a  feature  formerly 
unknown  has  become  very  prominent.  I  refer 
to  the  Congregational  organizations  containing 
an  element  of  independence,  by  which,  while  they 
acknowledge  the  authority  of  the  sacred  Scrip- 
tures, they  separate  almost  altogether  from  hie- 
rarchical domination  and  creeds,  giving  freedom 
to  the  spirit — carefully  preserving  at  the  same 
time  educational  influences  fall  of  good  fruits. 

Amidst  all  this  variety  of  sects,  organizations, 
and  individual  opinions,  the  philosophers  being 
also  divided  into  sects,  there  being  no  system  of 
philosophic  doctrine  generally  received,  a  writer 
comes  forward  with  a  learned  work  in  our  age, 
with  this  opening  passage  : 

"Wherever  a  religion,  resting  upon  written 
records,  prolongs  and  extends  the  sphere  of  its 
dominion,  accompanying  its  votaries  through  the 
varied  and  progressive  stages  of  mental  cultiva- 
tion, a  discrepancy  between  the  representations 
of  those  ancient  records,  referred  to  as  sacred,  and 


CH.  VIII.]          A   HERMETIC   PHILOSOPHER.  191 

the  notions  of  more  advanced  periods  of  mental 
development,  will  inevitably  sooner  or  later  arise. 
In  the  first  instance,  this  disagreement  is  felt  in 
reference  only  to  the  unessential, — the  external 
form  :  the  expressions  and  delineations  are  seen 
to  be  inappropriate  ;  but  by  degrees  it  manifests 
itself  also  in  regard  to  that  which  is  essential :  the 
fundamental  ideas  and  opinions  in  these  early 
writings  fail  to  be  commensurate  with  a  more  ad- 
vanced civilization.  As  long  as  this  discrepancy  is 
either  not  in  itself  so  considerable,  or  else  is  not  so 
universally  discerned  and  acknowledged,  as  to 
lead  to  a  complete  renunciation  of  these  Scrip- 
tures as  of  sacred  authority,  so  long  will  a  system 
of  reconciliation  by  means  of  interpretation  be 
adopted  and  pursued,  by  those  who  have  a  more 
or  less  distinct  consciousness  of  the  existing  in- 
congruity." 

This  is  an  ominous  commencement  of  a  crit- 
ical examination,  and  would  prepare  almost  any 
reader  for  a  work  of  destruction.  Many  have 
hailed  it  with  joy,  and  have  been  fully  prepared 
to  accept  conclusions,  whose  first  effect  might 
seem  to  be  unalloyed  freedom : — but  some  few, 
very  few  perhaps,  not  satisfied  with  the  letter^ 
still  less  satisfied  with  what  seem  fanciful  and  fal- 
lible interpretations,  are  yet  least  of  all  satisfied 


192  SWEDENBOBG,  [CH.  VIII. 

to  see  violently  assailed  a  system  upon  which  the 
"  human  heart  has  nourished  itself  for  ages." 
These  become  silent  and  reserved.  They  with- 
draw from  all  public  demonstration  of  their  opin- 
ions, become  thoughtful,  and  enter  into  solemn 
resolutions  with  themselves,  to  take  no  active 
part  for  or  against  any  externally  marked  system, 
— to  perform  punctually  all  the  duties  of  life 
without  ostentation, — to  lead  perfectly  innocent 
and  blameless  lives,  and  see  whether  time  and 
the  blessing  of  God  will  not  bring  to  them  some 
kind  of  solution  of  the  great  problems  that  have 
always  occupied  the  attention  of  man. 


CH.  IX.]  A  HEEMETIC  PHILOSOPHER.  193 


CHAPTER   IX. 

Jut.. 

CAN  it  be  thought  strange,  amidst  the  confu- 
sion of  the  world  on  the  subject  of  religion,  that 
a  class  of  self-secluded  men  should  come  into  ex- 
istence, the  individuals  of  which,  through  con- 
templation, reading,  and  observation, — the  duties 
of  life  being  all  punctually  performed, — should 
reach  a  satisfactory  condition,  accompanied  with 
the  conviction,  that  others  will  not  attain  to  it  so 
long  as  they  remain  partisan  advocates  of  a  more 
or  less  externally  formalized  creed  ? 

From  this  class,  some  of  whom  may  be  found 
in  all  enlightened  countries,  has  come  a  small 
body  of  Hermetic  philosophers, — a  very  few  of 
whom  have  written,  though  very  obscurely,  of 
certain  principles  attained  in  secret,  and  main- 
tained in  secrecy  ;  for,  if  published  at  all,  it  has 
always  been  under  a  veil, 
9 


1 94  SWEDENBOKG,  (Cn.  IX. 

Many  men  have  sprung  up  from  time  to  time 
with  the  idea  that  they  had  reached  the  secret  of 
this  doctrine,  and  have  audaciously  and  presump- 
tuously written  books  to  publish  it  to  the  world, 
affecting  obscurity  in  imitation  of  the  genuine 
writers,  as  if  obscurity  was  the  badge  of  truth, 
and  a  virtue  in  itself.  For  the  most  part,  these 
men  have  known  nothing  of  the  secret. 

Most  of  the  real  adepts  have  written  nothing 
at  all,  while  those  who  have  published  any  thing 
have  limited  themselves  to  very  small  tracts,  pub- 
lished, not  so  much  with  the  object  of  making 
known  a  doctrine,  as  to  indicate  to  the  initiated 
their  claim  to  brotherhood,  and  these  works  have 
almost  invariably  been  anonymous. 

From  the  nature  of  the  case,  the  members,  to 
call  them  such,  of  this  "  society"  (referred  to  so 
frequently  by  Swedenborg)  are  scattered,  both  as 
to  time  and  space,  there  being  a  few  in  every 
age,  but  not  many  in  any  age ;  and  from  the 
same  necessity  they  do  not  and  cannot  form  an 
organized  body,  for  this  would  be  to  put  limita- 
tions upon  that  which  in  its  nature  is  absolutely 
free.  Yet  they  truly  exist,  and  know  each  other 
by  signs  more  infallible  than  can  be  made  effect- 
ual by  any  organized  society  whatever ;  and  why  ? 
— because  they  live  in  the  fear  of  the  Lord,  and 


CH.  IX.]  A  HERMETIC  PHILO80PHEK.  195 

have  become  the  depositors  of  his  secret  (Ps. 
25,  14). 

The  members  of  this  society  have  in  former 
times  communicated  with  each  other  by  a  secret 
language,  which  has  had  many  forms,  and  will 
have  many  more,  but  which  can  never  utterly 
perish. 

"  It  is  not  unknown  to  you  (says  the  trans- 
lator of  An  Easy  Introduction  to  the  Philoso- 
pher's Gold,  addressing  the  reader)  that  there  is 
a  certain  tongue,  which  is  the  tongue  of  mys- 
teries, called  by  FICINUS  Lingua  Magica,  and 
sometimes  Lingua  Angelorum;  and,  indeed,  it 
is  Lingua  Ipsius  Ternarii  Sancti ;  for  almost 
all  the  Hagiography  is  in  it;  all  the  Cabalism 
of  the  Hebrews,  and,  without  the  ambit  of  that, 
there  is  nothing  that  is  admirable.  This  tongue 
is  not  only  absolutely  necessary,  and  wisely  fitted 
to  veil  nature's  secrets  from  the  unworthy  and 
profane,  but  is  also  bravely  proportioned  to  the 
Olympus  or  the  intellectual  imaginations  of 
man  ; — That  MAN — who  is  descended  from  God, 
who  has  in  himself  a  sense  of  Him,  and  turns 
his  mind  towards  him — might,  like  a  generous 
scholar,  be  taught  by  mystic  words. — And  yet  it 
is  not  every  artist  who  has  attempted  this  tongue 
that  has  a  right  felicity  in  the  use  of  it ;  nay,  in- 


196  8WEDENBOEG,  [On.  IX. 

deed,  not  very  many  out  of  the  whole  Sacra 
Corona  can  be  shown  who  have  offered  so  much 
as  a  Rose  to  the  true  Yenus  of  the  language,  the 
sweet  and  secret  Cytheria." 

We  have  all  heard  of  Roger  Bacon  as  a  Ma- 
gician. He  was  indeed  an  Alchemist — a  Her- 
metic Philosopher — and  wrote  many  works  him- 
self in  the  mystic  vein  of  that  mysterious  class 
of  men,  and  in  one  of  his  works  (The  Admirable 
Force  of  Art  and  Nature)  he  has  taken  such  es- 
pecial pains  to  prepare  his  reader  for  his  mystical 
writing,  that  it  seems  wonderful  how  the  subject 
at  least  of  his  treatise  should  have  escaped  ob- 
servation, as  it  appears  to  have  done.  He  recites 
many  species  of  secret  writing,  and  explains,  as 
openly  as  need  be,  why  they  were  adopted,  ex- 
pressly telling  us  that  he  himself  will  use  some 
of  them.  The  first  part  of  the  Treatise  is  devoted 
to  purely  natural  things,  designed  to  show  the 
power  of  Art,  "  using  nature  as  an  instrument." 
It  is  in  this  work  that  the  monk  gives  us  reason 
to  believe  that  he  was  acquainted  with  the  com- 
position of  (gun)  powder,  and  seems  to  predict 
the  use  of  steam  power,  both  for  propelling  ships 
and  railway  carriages.  He  speaks  of  what  we 
now  call  the  hydraulic  press,  and  of  the  diving 


CH.  IX.]  A  HERMETIC   PHILOSOPHEK.  197 

bell;  he  describes  the  kaleidoscope  as  if  he  had 
one  before  him,  and  foretells  the  making  of  "  in- 
struments to  fly  withal,  so  that  one  sitting  in  the 
middle  of  the  instrument,  and  turning  about  an 
engine  by  which  the  wings,  being  artificially 
composed,  may  beat  the  air  after  the  manner  of 
a  flying  bird."  One  object  of  this  Tract  appears 
to  have  been  to  defend  himself  from  the  accusa- 
tion of  magic,  and  to  give  reasons  for  his  own  use 
of  secret  writing,  of  which  he  gives  us  an  ex- 
ample ;  for  he  says : 

"Thus,  having  produced  certain  examples, 
declaring  the  power  of  Art  and  Nature,  to  the 
end  that  out  of  those  few  we  might  collect  many, 
out  of  the  parts  gather  the  whole,  out  of  particu- 
lars infer  universals,  we  see  how  far  forth  it  is 
altogether  needless  for  us  to  gape  after  Magic. 
whereas  Nature  and  Art  are  sufficient.  Now  I 
intend  to  prosecute  every  one  of  the  aforesaid 
things  in  order,  and  deliver  their  causes,  and  the 
method  of  working  them  particularly.  But,  first 
of  all,  I  consider  that  the  secrets  of  nature  con- 
tained in  the  skins  of  goats  and  sheep  [he  is 
speaking  of  men]  are  not  spoken  of,  lest  every 
man  should  understand  them ;  as  Socrates  and 
Aristotle  comnaandeth.  For  Aristotle,  in  his 
Book  of  Secrets,  afiirmeth,  that  he  is  a  breaker 


198  6WEDENBORG,  [Cn.  IX. 

of  the  celestial  seal  that  maketh  the  secrets  of  Art 
and  Nature  common ;  adding,  moreover,  that 
many  evils  betide  him  that  revealeth  secrets. 
And  in  the  book  entitled  Noctes  Atticce,  in  the 
comparing  of  wise  men  together,  it  is  reputed  a 
great  folly  to  give  an  Ass  lettuce,  when  thistles 
will  serve  his  turn ;  and  it  is  written  in  the  book 
of  Stones,  that  he  impaireth  the  majesty  of  things 
who  divulgeth  mysteries.  And  they  are  no 
longer  to  be  termed  secrets,  when  the  multitude 
is  acquainted  with  them — having  regard  to  the 
usual  division  of  the  multitude,  which  evermore 
gainsay  the  learned.  For  that  which  seemeth 
[appeareth]  unto  all,  is  true,  as  also  that  which  is 
so  judged  of  by  the  wise,  and  men  of  best  ac- 
count. But  that  which  seemeth  only  to  the 
many,  that  is,  to  the  common  people,  so  far  forth 
as  it  seemeth  such,  must  of  necessity  be  false. 

"  I  speak  here  of  the  common  sort,  in  that 
sense,  as  they  are  distinguished  from  the  learned. 

"  For  in  the  common  conceits  of  the  mind, 
they  agree  with  the  learned,  but  in  the  proper 
principles  and  conclusions  of  arts  and  sciences 
they  disagree,  employing  themselves  about  mere 
appearances,  and  sophistications,  and  quirks,  and 
quiddities,  and  such  like  trash,  of  which  wise  men 
make  no  account. 


CH.  IX.]  A   HERMETIC   PHILOSOPHER.  199 

"  In  tilings  proper,  therefore,  and  in  secrets, 
the  common  people  do  err,  and  in  this  respect 
they  are  opposite  to  the  learned ;  but  in  common 
matters  they  are  comprehended  under  the  law  of 
all,  and  therein  do  agree  with  the  learned.  And 
as  for  these  common  things,  they  are  of  small 
value,  and  not  worthy  to  be  sought  after  for 
themselves,  but  only  in  respect  of  their  use  for 
things  particular  and  proper. 

"  Now,  the  cause  of  this  concealment  among 
all  wise  men,  is,  the  contempt  and  neglect  of  the 
secrets  of  wisdom  by  the  vulgar  sort,  who  know 
not  how  to  use  those  things  that  are  most  excel- 
lent. Or  if  they  do  conceive  any  worthy  thing, 
it  is  altogether  by  chance  and  fortune,  and  they 
do  exceedingly  abuse  that  their  knowledge,  to  the 
great  damage  and  hurt  of  many  men,  yea,  even 
of  whole  societies ;  so  that  he  is  worse  than  mad 
that  publisheth  any  secret,  unless  [by  mystical 
writing,  is  meant]  he  conceal  it  from  the  multi- 
tude, and  in  such  wise  deliver  it  that  even  the 
studious  and  learned  shall  hardly  understand  it. 

"  This  hath  been  the  course  which  wise  men 
have  observed  from  the  beginning,  who  by  many 
means  have  hidden  the  secrets  of  wisdom  from 
the  common  people. 

"  Some  have  used  characters  and  verses,  and 


200  SWEDENBOKG,  [CH.  IX. 

divers  other  riddles  and  figurative  speeches,  as 
Aristotle  witnessed  in  his  book  of  Secrets,  where 
he  thus  speaketh :  '  O  Alexander,  I  will  show 
thee  the  greatest  Secret  in  the  world :  God  grant 
that  thou  mayest  keep  it  close,  and  bring  to  pass 
the  intention  of  the  Art  of  that  Stone,  which  is 
no  Stone,  and  is  in  every  man,  and  in  every  place, 
and  at  all  seasons,  and  is  called  the  END  of  all 
philosophers.'' 

"  And  an  infinite  number  of  things  are  found 
in  many  books  and  sciences  obscured  with  such 
dark  speeches,  that  no  man  can  understand  them 
without  a  teacher. 

"  Thirdly,  some  have  hidden  their  Secrets  by 
their  modes  of  writing;  as,  namely,  by  using 
consonants  only :  so  that  no  man  can  read  them, 
unless  he  knows  the  signification  of  the  words : — 
and  this  is  usual  among  the  Jews,  Chaldeans, 
Syrians,  and  Arabians,  yea,  and  the  Grecians 
too :  and,  therefore,  there  is  a  great  concealing 
with  them,  but  especially  with  the  Jews;  for 
Aristotle  sayeth  in  the  above-named  book,  that 
God  gave  them  all  manner  of  wisdom,  before 
there  were  any  philosophers,  and  all  nations  bor- 
rowed the  principles  of  philosophy  from  them. 
And  thus  much  we  are  plainly  taught  by  Alba- 
masar  in  his  book  named  the  Larger  Introductory, 


CH.  IX.]  A   HERMETIC   PHILOSOPHER.  201 

and  by  other  philosophers,  and  by  Josephus  in 
his  Eighth  Book  of  Antiquities. 

"Fourthly,  things  are  obscured  by  the  ad- 
mixture of  letters  of  divers  kinds ;  and  thus  hath 
EtTiicus  the  astronomer  concealed  his  wisdom, 
writing  the  same  with  Hebrew,  Greek,  and  Latin 
letters,  all  in  a  row. 

"Fifthly,  they  hide  their  Secrets,  writing 
them  in  other  letters  than  are  used  in  their  own 
country,  to  wit,  when  they  take  letters  that  are 
in  use  in  foreign  nations,  and  feign  them  accord- 
ing to  their  own  pleasures.  This  is  a  very  great 
impediment,  used  by  Artephius  [an  alchemist] 
in  his  book  of  the  Secrets  of  Nature. 

"Sixthly,  they  make  certain  forms,  not  of 
letters,  but  such  as  used  by  diviners  and  enchant- 
ers, which  according  to  the  diversity  of  arrange- 
ment have  the  power  of  letters :  and  these  like- 
wise hath  Artephius  used  in  his  Science. 

"Seventhly,  there  is  a  yet  more  cunning 
mode  of  concealment  by  the  help  of  Art  notary : 
an  Art  whereby  a  man  may  write  or  note  any- 
thing, as  briefly  as  he  will,  and  as  swiftly  as  he 
can  desire.  And  in  this  sort  have  the  Latin  au- 
thors hidden  many  Secrets. 

"  I  deemed  it  necessary  to  touch  these  tricks 
of  obscurity,  because  haply  myself  may  be  con- 
9* 


202  SWEDENBORG,  [Cll.  IX. 

strained,  through  the  greatness  of  the  secrets  which 
I  shall  handle,  to  use  some  of  them,  so  that,  at 
the  least,  I  might  help  thee  to  my  power.  I  give 
thee  therefore  to  understand,  that  my  purpose  is 
orderly  to  proceed  in  the  exposition  of  those 
things,  whereof  I  made  mention  before ;  as,  to 
dissolve  the  philosopher's  egg,  and  search  out  the 
parts  of  a  philosophical  man.  And  this  shall 
serve  for  a  beginning  to  the  rest." 

One  would  think  that  here  is  a  sufficient  warn- 
ing not  to  understand  literally  what  follows  : 

"  Take  SALT  (says  he,  and  I  will  tell  the  reader 
that  Bacon  here,  like  other  Hermetic  philoso- 
phers, is  writing  of  man,  and  intends  to  indicate 
a  method  of  making  him  '  the  salt  of  the  earth '), 
— Take  salt,  and  rub  it  diligently  with  water — 
[wash  the  matter,  say  all  these  philosophers]  and 
purify  it  in  other  waters;  afterwards  by  divers 
contritions,  rub  it  with  salts,  and  ~burn  it  with 
sundry  assations,  that  it  may  be  made  a  PUKE 
EARTH,  separated  from  the  other  elements — which 
I  esteem  worthy  of  thee  for  the  stature  of  my 
length.  Understand  me  if  thou  art  able  :  for  it 
shall  undoubtedly  be  composed  of  the  elements, 
and  therefore  it  shall  be  apart  of  the  stone,  which 
is  no  stone,  and  is  in  every  man  /  which  thou  shalt 
find  at  all  times  of  the  year  in  his  own  place," 


CH.  IX.]  A  HERMETIC   PHILOSOPHER.  203 

&c.,  &c.  But  here  is  enough.  The  reader  may 
think  more  than  enough. 

I  might  perhaps  have  satisfied  myself  with  a 
simple  reference  to  these  writings,  but  I  desired 
to  show  decisively  the  fact,  that  in  former  times 
there  existed  secret  modes  of  writing,  and  some- 
thing of  the  reasons  for  them,  that  the  reader 
may  credit  me  in  the  assertion  of  the  fact,  and 
be  in  a  better  position  to  understand  something 
of  those  reasons. 

Sandivogius  addresses  the  Courteous  Reader 
as  follows : 

"Seeing  that  I  may  not  write  more  clearly 
than  other  philosophers  have  written,  haply  thou 
mayest  not  be  satisfied  with  my  writings  ;  espe- 
cially since  thou  hast  so  many  other  books  of  phi- 
losophers already  in  thy  hands :  but  believe  me, 
— I  have  no  need  to  write  books,  because  I  seek 
neither  profit  nor  vain-glory  by  them.  To  con- 
clude, if  you  will  not  be  wise  and  wary  by  these 
my  writings  and  admonitions,  yet  excuse  me,  who 
desire  to  deserve  well  of  thee :  I  have  dealt  as 
faithfully  as  it  was  lawful  for  me,  and  as  becomes 
a  man  of  a  good  conscience  to  do.  If  you  ask 
who  I  am, — I  am  one  that  can  live  anywhere, 
If  you  know  me  and  desire  to  show  yourselves 
good  and  honest  men,  you  shall  hold  your  tongue. 


204:       •  SWEDENBOBG,  [Cfl.  IX. 

If  you  know  me  not,  do  not  inquire  after  me. 
*  *  *  Now  I  do  not  wonder,  as  before  I  did, 
why  philosophers,  when  they  have  attained  to 
this  medicine,  have  not  cared  to  have  their  days 
shortened;  because  every  philosopher  hath  the 
life  to  come  set  as  clearly  before  his  eyes  as  thine 
may  be  seen  in  a  glass.  And  if  God  shall  grant 
thee  thy  desired  end,  then  thou  wilt  believe  me, 
and  not  reveal  thyself  to  the  world." 

While  I  feel  obliged  to  declare  my  opinion, 
as  I  have  in  the  foregoing  pages,  that  Sweden- 
borg  was  a  Hermetic  philosopher,  I  feel  equally 
bound  not  to  place  him  in  the  foremost  rank 
among  those  men.  I  believe  that  he  had  studied 
the  writings  of  the  Hermetic  class,  and  had  im- 
bibed some  principles  from  them ;  but  I  am  sure 
that  he  did  not  precisely  "  lay  hold  "  of  the  very 
secret  itself.  If  he  had  fully  possessed  the  art, 
he  would  have  written  less,  and  especially  he 
would  not  have  attempted  to  disclose  the  hidden 
sense  of  the  books  of  Moses,  in  which  attempt  he 
has  most  assuredly  departed  from  the  Hermetic 
practice,  and  has  placed  himself  on  the  footing 
of  Philo  and  other  allegorists. 

The  Hermetic  writers  do  indeed  assert  that 
the  letter  of  the  Mosaic  books  is  a  veil;  but  their 


Cn.  IX.J  A  HERMETIC  PHILOSOPHEE.  205 

reference  to  the  first  verses  of  Genesis  is  rather 
to  illustrate  or  hint,  perhaps  I  ought  to  say,  the 
nature  of  their  own  doctrine,  than  to  set  forth 
openly  a  secret  sense  of  those  verses.  Sweden- 
borg  here  mistook  their  design,  and,  departing 
from  the  genuine  Hermetic  rule,  he  undertook  a 
vast  work,  which  would  have  remained  incom- 
plete, had  he  lived  and  labored  to  this  day.  I 
am  disposed  to  say,  therefore,  that,  although  Swe- 
denborg  had  caught  a  glimpse  of  Hermetic  doc- 
trine, and  wrote  under  its  influence,  he  was  not, 
as  I  must  believe,  in  a  condition  to  breathe  the 
prayer,  "  Father,  I  thank  thee  that  thou  hast  hid- 
den these  things  from  the  wise,  and  revealed 
them  to  babes." 

If  Swedenborg  has  justly  expounded  the  True 
Christian  Religion,  in  his  work  with  this  title,  it 
is  certain  that  none  but  the  deepest  students  can 
penetrate  the  doctrine,  and  the  general  mass  of 
mankind  can  be  but  little  benefited  by  the 
preaching  which  is  to  derive  its  life  through  or 
by  means  of  a  comprehension  of  the  principles 
discussed  in  that  work.  Swedenborg's  doctrine 
of  substance,  of  discrete  and  continuous  degrees, 
of  time,  of  space,  and  even  of  love  itself,  will 
never  be  generally  acknowledged  and  made 


206  SWEDENBOKG,  [On.  IX. 

popular ;  and  therefore,  as  a  fruit  of  study,  can 
never  become  generally  useful. 

Is  not  this,  it  may  be  asked,  still  less  likely  to 
result  from  the  Hermetic  writings,  which  have 
already  fallen  into  deserved  oblivion?  It  may 
be  so ;  but  there  is  this  to  be  said  of  those  writ- 
ings— No  one  can  attain  to  any  doctrine  from 
Hermetic  books  as  a  result  of  direct  teaching. 
The  consequence  is,  that  whatever  be  derived 
from  those  works  can  be  said  only  to  manifest 
the  individual  character  of  the  student ;  hence 
no  one  can  be  said,  in  any  proper  sense,  to  be  or 
to  have  been  injured  by  that  sort  of  reading. 
The  Hermetic  books  may  be  said  to  have  been 
written  purposely  as  enigmatical  as  nature  itself, 
and  every  one  who  comes  to  their  study  brings 
with  him  a  certain  design  or  intent.  Now  this, 
for  the  time  being,  expresses  the  very  essence  of 
his  life,  and  will  work  itself  out.  If  this  intent 
be  the  truth,  the  student  will  not  be  misled  by 
Hermetic  books,  for  their  aim  is  to  throw  the 
student  upon  the  truth  itself  for  a  solution  of  its 
problems,  and  they  do  not  aim  to  furnish  a  solu- 
tion which  may  be  carried,  folded  up,  in  one's 
pocket.  The  result  of  reading  Hermetic  writings 
is  not  to  enable  their  readers  to  urge  that  they 
say  thus  and  so;  but  that  (something)  is,  thus 


CH.  IX.]  A  HEEMETIC   PHILOSOPHER.  207 

and  so.  But,  for  the  most  part,  the  readers  of 
Swedenborg  seem  content  to  know  that  he,  the 
Swedish  seer,  says  thus  and  so.  In  other  words, 
a  doctrine  is  received  by  the  Swedenborgians,  or 
at  all  events  by  many  of  them,  because  "  the 
master  has  said  it."  They  look  to  him  and  not 
to  the  author  of  all  truth,  and  some  of  them  are 
in  danger  of  forgetting  that  Christ,  while  in  the 
body,  would  not  allow  even  his  followers  to  call 
him  good.  "  There  is  none  good  but  one,  that 
is,  God." 

Still,  I  desire  to  bear  my  testimony  in  favor 
of  Swedenborg's  writings  as  of  immense  instru- 
mental value.  His  influences  are  good,  and  his 
followers,  so  far  as  I  have  observed,  are  amiable, 
excellent  citizens,  people  to  be  loved  and  ad- 
mired. But  they  should  be  on  their  guard 
against  the  error  of  imagining  that  Swedenborg 
understood  the  doctrine  of  life  better  than  John, 
or  that  there  is  any  positive  need  of  twelve  oc- 
tavo volumes  in  exposition  of  only  two  books  of 
the  Pentateuch,  Genesis  and  Exodus. 

The  doctrine  of  Christianity  cannot  need  large 
and  learned  volumes  to  expound  it.  The  princi- 
ple by  which  it  may  be  understood  lies  much 


208  8WEDENBOEG,  [Cu.  IX. 

nearer  home  : — "  Blessed  are  the  pure  in  heart, 
for  they  shall  see  God." 

"  Keep  thy  heart  with  all  diligence,  for  out 
of  it  are  the  issues  of  life." 


CH.  X.]  A  HERMETIC   PHILOSOPHER.  209 


CHAPTEE   X. 

THE  multitude  of  interpretations  that  different 
portions  of  the  Sacred  Writings  have  met  with 
might  discourage  us,  if  we  could  not  draw  from 
this  very  variety  a  reconciling  consideration ;  for 
what  does  it  prove  but  the  "  many-sidedness  "  of 
those  Scriptures,  and  their  adaptation  to  the 
wants  of  every  condition  of  life ;  while,  at  the 
same  time,  we  may  be  sure  that  it  is  not  essential 
for  us  to  rest  upon  any  one  interpretation  exclu- 
sively; but,  if  we  will  have  explanations,  or 
whatever  they  may  be  called,  we  are  at  full  liber- 
ty to  cull  them  from  all  quarters  upon  one  single 
condition,  that  we  domesticate  nothing  in  our 
hearts  except  under  the  law  of  conscience. 

Those  who  feel  the  want  of  an  interpretation 
of  Genesis,  or  of  the  Pentateuch  as  a  whole,  may 
undoubtedly  seek  for  it  wherever  it  may  be  found, 
and  accept  such  portions  of  different  interpreta- 
tions as  may  seem  just  and  rational.  Thus,  many 


210  SWEDENBORG,  [CH.  X. 

very  beautiful  interpretations  may  be  found  in 
Philo,  though  his  criticisms  are  evidently  a  little 
cramped  by  a  theory  in  great  part  manifestly 
drawn  from  Plato.  Swedenborg  also  drew  from 
Plato  and  others,  and  had  a  theory  to  which  the 
Mosaic  writings  were  compelled  to  submit  in 
passing  through  his  alembic. 

It  may  be  that  every  interpreter,  at  all  ad- 
vanced beyond  the  sensuous  state,  has  some  theo- 
ry constantly  present  in  reading  mystic  writings, 
or  writings  having  an  indeterminate  element  in 
them.  The  merely  didactic  mind  will  perhaps 
never  see  in  the  story  of  the  Garden  of  Eden  any- 
thing but  a  veritable  history ;  but  the  same  story, 
under  the  examination  of  a  genius  a  little  exer- 
cised in  poetry,  appears  as  a  mixture  of  history 
and  allegory,  while  many  see  nothing  in  the  story 
but  the  allegory,  and  consider  it  idle  to  imagine 
that  it  ever  had  a  historical  basis  of  any  sort. 

It  is  the  same  with  nearly  every  part  of  the 
most  ancient  Scriptures ;  with,  for  example,  the 
Tabernacle  of  Moses  and  the  Temple  of  Solomon. 
With  perhaps  the  majority  of  readers  the  Temple 
of  Solomon,  and  also  the  Tabernacle,  were  mere 
buildings;  very  magnificent  indeed,  but  still 
mere  buildings  for  the  worship  of  God.  But 
some  are  struck  with  many  portions  of  the  ac- 


CH.  X.]  A  HERMETIC   PHILOSOPHER.  211 

count  of  their  erection  admitting  a  moral  inter- 
pretation, and  while  the  buildings  are  allowed  to 
stand  (or  to  have  stood,  once),  visible  objects, 
these  interpreters  are  delighted  to  meet  with  in- 
dications that  Moses  and  Solomon,  in  building 
the  temples,  were  wise  in  the  knowledge  of  God 
and  of  man ;  from  which  point  it  is  not  difficult 
to  pass  on  to  the  moral  meaning  altogether,  and 
affirm  that  the  building,  which  was  erected  with- 
out "  the  noise  of  a  hammer,  or  axe,  or  any  tool 
of  iron "  (I  Kings  6.  7),  was  altogether  a  moral 
building,  a  building  of  God,  not  made  with 
hands  : — in  short,  many  see  in  the  story  of  Solo- 
mon's Temple  a  symbolical  representation  of 
MAN,  as  the  temple  of  God,  with  its  HOLT  OF 
HOLIES  deep  seated  in  the  centre  of  the  human 
heart. 

This  class  of  readers  or  interpreters  dismiss 
all  idea  of  an  external  building,  and  study  the 
details  of  the  Temple  (or  of  the  Tabernacle)  as 
significant  of  the  nature  of  MAN,  with  its  two 
pillars,  Jachin  and  Boaz,  used,  perhaps,  by  every 
"  image  "  of  God  in  going  to  and  fro  in  his  daily 
avocations ;  and  the  Hermetic  writers  might  pos- 
sibly see  their  sulphur  and  mercury,  as  the  attri- 
butes of  their  sacred  Trinity,  symbolized  in  the 
Two  Cherubims,  from  "  between  "  which  Goi>,  as 


212  6WEDENBOKG,  [Cn.  X. 

the  SPIRIT,  gave  his  commands  to  Moses  for  the 
Children  of  Israel ;  or,  finally,  it  may  come  to 
this,  that  the  Temple  is  Moses  himself,  whose 
conscience  speaks  forth  the  commands  of  God,  to 
our  consciences,  where  they  are  verified  and  ac- 
knowledged. Thou  shalt  not  kill,  said  the  con- 
science of  Moses,  seated  in  the  "  midst "  of  the 
Temple  of  the  Lord,  from  "  between  "  the  Soul 
and  the  Body,  as  the  two  cherubims; — and 
where  is  the  human  heart  that  does  not  say, 
speaking  from  the  same  point,  AMEN  ? 

To  understand  the  power  and  authority  of 
this  AMEN,  we  need  only  ask  ourselves  what  au- 
thority Moses  would  have  in  the  absence  of  it ; — 
or,  let  us  imagine  that  his  commands  had  vio- 
lated that  oracle  of  God  in  the  human  breast ! 
It  is  evident  that  the  authority  of  Moses  does  not 
in  the  least  depend  upon  the  history  of  the  mi- 
raculous accompaniments  at  the  enunciation  of 
the  commandments ;  but,  contrarily,  the  reason- 
ableness of  the  commandments  has  supported  a 
belief  in  the  miracles. 

From  this  mode  of  looking  at  the  subject  we 
may  understand  why  Swedenborg  regarded  Moses 
as  a  Hermetic  philosopher ; — writing,  as  he  says, 
in  "correspondences,"  or,  in  other  words,  in 
Hermetic  Symbolism ;  for  this  is  the  meaning  of 


CH.  X.]  A  HERMETIC  PHILO8OPHEE.  213 

the  Swedish  philosopher,  himself  a  Hermetic 
writer.  Swedenborg  tells  us  again  and  again 
that  all  the  ancient  wise  men  wrote  in  "  Corre- 
spondences" undoubtedly  including  MOSES, — for 
the  interpretation  of  whose  writings,  or  two  books 
of  them  only,  he  devoted  twelve  octavo  volumes ! 
Now,  this  word,  "correspondence,"  can  itself 
have  no  other  meaning  than  that  of  Symbolism. 
It  is  plain,  therefore,  that,  in  the  estimation  of 
Swedenborg,  Moses  was  a  Hermetic  philosopher ; 
and  Swedenborg,  having  seized  as  he  supposed 
his  point  of  view,  comes  forward  in  modern 
times  as  his  interpreter,  yet  without  wholly  lay- 
ing off  the  veil  himself.  He  has,  in  fact,  rather 
taken  up  the  mantle  of  Moses,  and  assumes  to 
speak  to  us  as  if  "  the  Lord  had  been  seen  of 
him," — to  use  his  own  language. 

But  does  this  lessen  the  authority  of  Moses  ? 
Not  in  the  least.  On  the  contrary,  it  may  show 
us  the  true  ground  of  that  authority,  when  we 
find  it  not  only  in  Swedenborg,  but  in  ourselves, 
and  upon  this  foundation  we  may  be  enabled  to 
predict  the  permanent  authority  of  Moses,  whose 
commandments  will  live  and  be  respected  for- 
ever ; — and  why  ? — because  they  proceeded  from 
the  human  heart  and  speak  to  the  human  heart. 


214:  SWEDENBOKG,  [On.  X. 

"We  believe  in  Moses,  because  we  believe  in  our- 
selves. 

To  enable  the  reader  to  understand  these 
allusions  more  distinctly,  let  him  study  the  real 
import  of  the  following  citations  from  Scripture : 

Exodus  xxv.  17. — And  thou  shalt  make  a 
mercy  seat  of  pure  gold  :  *  two  cubits  and  a  half 
shall  be  the  length  thereof,  and  a  cubit  and  a 
half  the  breadth  thereof. 

18.  And  thou  shalt  make  two  cherubims  of 
gold,  of  beaten  work  shalt  thou  make  them,  in 
the  two  ends  of  the  mercy  seat. 

19.  And  make  one  cherub  on  the  one  end, 
and  the  other  cherub  on  the  other  end :  even  of 
the  mercy  seat  shall  ye  make  the  cherubims  on 
the  two  ends  thereof. 

20.  And  the  cherubims   shall  stretch  forth 
their  wings  on  high,  covering  the  mercy  seat 
with  their  wings,  and  their  faces  shall  look  one 
to  another ;  toward  the  mercy  seat  shall  the  faces 
of  the  cherubims  be. 

21.  And  thou  shalt  put  the  mercy  seat  above 

*  Let  us,  for  a  moment,  consider  this  mercy  seat  to  be  a  hu- 
man heart,  and  the  gold  of  which  it  is  to  be  made  is  that  of 
which  we  read  in  Rev.  iii.  18, — "  tried  in  the  fire," — said  to  make 
us  "  rich."  With  all  reverence,  be  it  spoken,  this  is  Alchemic 
gold. 


CH.  X.]  A   HERMETIC   PHILOSOPHER.  215 

upon  the  ark ;  and  in  the  ark  thou  shalt  put  the 
testimony  that  I  shall  give  thee. 

22.  And  there  I  will  meet  with  thee,  and  I 
will  commune  with  thee  from  above  the  mercy 
seat,  from  between  the  two  cherubims  which  are 
upon  the  ark  of  the  testimony,  of  all  things  which 
I  will  give  thee  in  commandment  unto  the  chil- 
dren of  Israel. 

Nwribers  vii.  89. — And  when  Moses  was  gone 
into  the  tabernacle  of  the  congregation  to  speak 
with  him,  then  he  heard  the  voice  of  one  speak- 
ing unto  him  from  off  the  mercy  seat  that  was 
upon  the  ark  of  testimony,  from  between  the 
two  cherubims :  and  he  spake  unto  him. 

viii.  1. — And  the  Lord  spake  unto  Moses, 
saying,  &c. 

1  Kings  vi.  23. — And  within  the  oracle  he 
made  two  cherubims  of  olive  tree,  each  ten  cu- 
bits high. 

24.  And  five  cubits  was  the  one  wing  of  the 
cherub,  and  five  cubits  the  other  wing  of  the 
cherub ;  from  the  uttermost  part  of  the  one  wing 
unto  the  uttermost  part  of  the  other  were  ten 
cubits. 

25.  And  the  other  cherub  was  ten  cubits: 


216  SWEDENBORG,  [CH.  X. 

both  the  cherubims  were  of  one  measure  and 
one  size. 

26.  The  height  of  the  one  cherub  was  ten  cu- 
bits, and  so  was  it  of  the  other  cherub. 

27.  And  he  set  the  cherubims  within  the 
inner  house ;  and  they  stretched  forth  the  wings 
of  the  cherubims,  so  that  the  wing  of  one  touch- 
ed the  one  wall,  and  the  wing  of  the  other  cherub 
touched  the  other  wall ;  and  their  wings  touched 
one  another  in  the  midst  of  the  house. 

2  Kings  xix.  15.  And  Hezekiah  prayed 
before  the  Lord,  and  said,  O  Lord  God  of  Israel, 
which  dwellest  between  the  cherubims,  thou  art 
the  God,  even  thou  alone,  of  all  the  kingdoms  of 
the  earth ;  thou  hast  made  heaven  and  earth. 

Psalm  Ixxx.  1.  Give  ear,  O  Shepherd  of 
Israel,  thou  that  leadest  Joseph  like  a  flock :  thou 
that  dwellest  between  the  cherubims,  shine  forth. 

Psalm  xcix.  1.  The  Lord  reigneth ;  let  the 
people  tremble:  he  sitteth  between  the  cheru- 
bims ;  let  the  earth  be  moved. 

Isaiah  xxx vii.  16.  O  Lord  of  hosts,  God  of 
Israel,  that  dwellest  between  the  cherubims,  thou 


CH.  X.]  A  HERMETIC  PHILOSOPHER.  217 

art  the  God,  even  thou  alone,  of  all  the  king- 
doms of  the  earth ;  thou  hast  made  heaven  and 
earth. 

Ezekiel  x.  1.  Then  I  looked,  and,  behold, 
in  the  firmament  that  was  above  the  head  of  the 
cherubims  there  appeared  over  them  as  it  were  a 
Sapphire  stone,  as  the  appearance  of  the  likeness 
of  a  throne. 

2.  And  he  spake,  &c.     *     *    * 

15.  And  the  cherubims  were  lifted  up.  This 
is  the  living  creature  that  I  saw  by  the  river  of 
Chebar.  *  *  * 

19.  And  the  cherubims  lifted  up  their  wings, 
and  mounted  up  from  the  earth  in  my  sight  *  *. 

20.  This  is  the  living  creature  that  I  saw  un- 
der the  God  of  Israel,  by  the  river  Chebar ;  and 
I  knew  that  they  were  the  cherubims. 

It  cannot  be  thought  strange  that  with  such 
descriptions  and  allusions  as  these  a  symbolic 
representation  should  be  supposed,  to  the  com- 
parative disregard  of  the  historical  elements, 
though  without  denying  them,  and  that  some  men 
may  even  yet  be  living  who  believe  that  the 
Lord, — the  eternal,  the  unchangeable, — still 

speaks  from  "  between  "  the  cherubims  to  those 
10 


218  SWEDENBOKG,  [Cu.  X. 

who  enter  the  temple,  and  penetrate  the  seat  of 
mercy,  their  own  hearts,  unveiled.  But  further, 
and  still  more  to  this  point: — 

Exodus  xxxiv.  33.  And  till  Moses  had  done 
speaking  with  them  [the  children  of  Israel],  he 
put  a  veil  on  his  face. 

34.  But  when  Moses  went  in  before  the  Lord, 
to  speak  with  him,  he  took  the  veil  oif,  until  he 
came  out.     And  he  came  out,  and  spake  unto  the 
children  of  Israel  that  which  he  was  commanded. 

35.  And  the  children  of  Israel  saw  the  face 
of  Moses,  that  the  skin  of  Moses'  face  shone : 
And  Moses  put  a  veil  upon  his  face  again,  until 
he  went  in  to  speak  with  him. 

St.  Paul's  commentary  upon  this  veil  is  re- 
markable, and  might  very  well  excuse  us  for 
supposing  it  a  purely  Hermetic  veil,  and  that  St. 
Paul  himself  thought  no  otherwise  of  it. 

2  Cor.  iii.  3.  Forasmuch  as  ye  are  mani- 
festly declared  to  be  the  Epistle  of  Christ  minis- 
tered to  by  us,  written  not  with  ink,  but  with  the 
Spirit  of  the  living  God ;  not  in  tables  of  stone, 
but  in  fleshy  tables  of  the  heart. 

4.  And  such  trust  have  we  through  Christ  to 
God-ward. 

5.  Not  that  we  are  sufficient  of  ourselves  to 


CH.  X.]  A   HERMETIC   PHILOSOPHER.  219 

think  any  thing,  as  of  ourselves;   hut  our  suf- 
ficiency is  of  God. 

6.  Who  also  hath  made  us  able  ministers  of 
the  New  Testament ;  not  of  the  letter,  hut  of  the 
Spirit ;  for  the  letter  killeth,  hut  the  Spirit  giveth 

life. 

***** 

12.  Seeing  then  that  we  have  such  hope,  we 
use  great  plainness  of  speech : 

13.  And  not  as  Moses,  which  put  a  veil  over 
his  face,  that  the  children  of  Israel  could  not 
steadfastly  look  to  the   end   of  that   which  is 
abolished. 

14.  But  their  minds  were  blinded ;  for  unto 
this  day  remaineth  the  same  veil  untaken  away 
in  the  reading  of  the  Old  Testament ;  which  veil 
is  done  away  in  Christ. 

15.  But  even  unto  this  day,  when  Moses  is 
read,  the  veil  is  upon  their  heart. 

16.  Nevertheless  when  it  [the  heart]   shall 
turn  to  the  Lord,  the  veil  shall  be  taken  away. 

17.  Now  the  Lord  is  that  Spirit ;  and  where 
the  Spirit  of  the  Lord  is,  there  is  liberty. 

Philo's  interpretation  of  the  cherubims  is  in- 
admissible, or  it  needs  a  further  interpretation ; 
for  he  says  that,  "  by  one  of  the  cherubim  is  un- 
derstood the  extreme  outermost  circumference 


SWEDENBOKG,  [Cn.  X. 

of  the  entire  heaven,  in  which  the  fixed  stars 
celebrate  their  truly  divine  dance,"  &c. : — "  the 
other  (he  says)  is  the  inner  sphere  which  is  con- 
tained within  that  previously  mentioned,  which 
God  originally  divided  into  two  parts :  " — refer- 
ring no  doubt  to  the  6th  verse  of  the  1st  ch.  of 
Genesis,  or  possibly  to  the  1st  verse :  "  In  the  be- 
ginning God  created  the  heaven  and  the  earth." 
But  Philo's  description  would  seem  to  refer  to 
an  outer  and  inner  sphere,  as  if  one  was  con- 
tained in  the  other,  in  which  case  one  would  be 
larger  than  the  other ;  whereas,  we  read  that  the 
cherubims  were  of  "  one  measure  and  size." 

Swedenborg's  idea  of  mind  and  body  would 
come  nearer  to  the  requisitions  of  the  text ;  for, 
according  to  him,  these  may  be  regarded  as  the 
two  extremes  of  the  universe, — of  matter  on  the 
one  side,  and  spirit  on  the  other ; — yet,  so  an- 
swering to  each  other  as  to  be  exactly  united,  as 
he  says,  by  correspondence  ;  and  he  further  says, 
that  there  is  nothing  in  the  one  which  is  not  in 
the  other  ;  in  the  midst  or  "  between  "  which  we 
may  suppose  to  be  the  place  referred  to  in  the 
text,  which  every  man  carries  with  him. 

The  Hetvnetic  PHILALETHE  had  two  certain 
impressions  upon  his  mind,  which  he  refers  to  in 
the  following  language : 


CH.  X.]  A  HERMETIC  PHILOSOPHEE.  221 

"  When  I  consider  the  system  or  fabric  of  this 
world,  I  find  it  to  be  a  certain  series,  a  link  or 
chain,  which  is  extended  a  non  gradu  ad  non 
gradum : — From  that  which  is  beneath  all  appre- 
hension, to  that  which  is  above  all  apprehension. 
That  which  is  beneath  all  degrees  of  sense  is  a 
certain  horrible,  inexpressible  darkness  ;  the  ma- 
gicians call  it  tenebrcB  activce,  and  the  effect  of  it 
in  nature  is  cold,  &c.  For  darkness  is  vultusfri- 
goris,  the  complexion,  body,  and  matrix  of  cold, 
as  light  is  the  face,  principle,  and  fountain  of 
heat.  That  which  is  above  all  degree  of  intelli- 
gence, is  a  certain  infinite  inaccessible  fire  or  light. 
Dionysius  calls  it  caligo  divina,  because  it  is  in- 
visible and  incomprehensible.  The  Jew  styles  it 
EIN,  that  is  nihil  or  nothing,  but  in  a  relative 
sense,  or  as  the  schoolmen  express  it,  quo  ad  nos. 
[This  nothing  is  simply  no  thing,  or  not  a  thing.] 
In  plain  terms  it  is  deltas  nuda  sine  indumento. 
The  middle  substances,  or  chain  between  these 
two,  is  that  which  we  commonly  call  nature. 
This  is  the  scala  of  the  great  Chaldee,  which  doth 
reach  d  tartaro  ad  primum  ignem,  from  the  sub- 
ternatural  darkness  to  the  supernatural  fire  " 

This,  to  be  sure,  throws  no  light  upon  the  sub- 
ject, and  I  only  recite  it  to  show  how  men's 
minds  have  labored  upon  a  certain  two  things, 


SWEDENBOKG,  [Oil.  X. 

which  Moses  has  shadowed  out  by  two  cheru- 
bims,  equal  to  each  other,  whose  outer  wings 
touched  the  extreme  outer  walls,  while  their  in- 
ner wings  touched  each  other  within  the  house, 
from  between  which  God  communed  with  Moses, 
and  gave  him  his  commands  for  the  people  of  Is- 
rael, to  wit,  the  "  congregation,"  who,  according 
to  some  interpretations,  are  all  of  the  passions  and 
affections,  and  indeed  all  the  capabilities  of  our 
nature,  the  whole  of  which  are  actually  ruled  by 
the  Spirit  of  God,  whether  we  know  it  or  not. 
The  wise  are  said  to  know  it ;  but  the  unwise  are 
ignorant  of  it,  and  think  they  possess  and  enjoy 
an  independent  life. 

The  Masonic  Society  is  said  to  make  great  use 
of  the  story  of  the  temple  of  Solomon,  as  symboli- 
cal and  typical  of  a  temple  not  made  with  hands ; 
but  I  am  not  a  Mason,  and  may  be  supposed  not  to 
know  any  thing  on  the  subject ;  and  yet  DR.  OLI- 
VER'S Landmarks  of  Masonry,  an  authorized  Ma- 
sonic work,  very  plainly  shows  how  the  subject  is 
understood  by  the  truly  initiated  within  a  lodge. 
Dr.  Oliver  gives  a  very  minute  account  of  a  cer- 
tain rebuilding  of  the  temple,  which  any  one  may 
see  has  no  reference  whatever  to  a  building  of 
masonry  and  carpentry. 

The  second  Temple,  it  appears,  must  be  built 


CH.  X.]  A   HEKMETIC   PH1LOSOPHEB. 

upon  the  foundations  of  the  first ;  which,  inter- 
preted, means  that  the  man  of  grace  must  be 
created  from  the  natural  man. 

"The  foundations  of  the  Temple  (says  Dr. 
Oliver)  were  opened  and  cleared  from  the  ac- 
cumulation of  rubbish,  that  a  level  site  might  be 
procured  for  the  commencement  of  the  building. 
While  engaged  in  excavations  for  this  purpose, 
THREE  fortunate  sojourners  [?]  are  said  to  have 
discovered  our  ancient  stone  of  foundation,  which 
had  been  deposited  in  the  secret  crypt  by  Wis- 
dom, Strength,  and  Beauty  [Dr.  O.  has  already 
told  us  that  these  represent  the  trinity],  to  pre- 
vent the  communication  of  ineffable  secrets  to 
profane  or  unworthy  persons.  The  discovery 
having  been  communicated  to  the  prince,  priest, 
and  prophet  of  the  Jews,  the  stone  was  adopted 
as  the  chief  corner-stone  of  the  re-edified  build- 
ing ;  and  thus  became,  in  a  new  and  expressive 
sense,  the  type  of  a  more  excellent  dispensation. 
Ah  avenue  was  also  accidentally  discovered, 
supported  by  seven  pair  of  pillars  [?],  perfect  and 
entire,  which,  from  their  situation,  had  escaped 
the  fury  of  the  flames  that  had  consumed  the 
temple,  and  the  desolation  of  war  which  had 
destroyed  the  city.  The  secret  vault,  which  had 
been  built  by  Solomon  as  a  secure  depository  for 


224:  SWEDENBOKG,  [On.  X. 

certain  valuable  secrets  that  would  inevitably 
have  been  lost  without  some  such  expedient  for 
their  preservation,  communicated  by  a  subter- 
ranean avenue  with  the  King's  Palace  [?] ;  but, 
at  the  destruction  of  Jerusalem  [?],  the  entrance 
having  been  closed  by  the  rubbish  of  falling 
buildings,  it  had  been  now  discovered  by  the 
appearance  of  a  key-stone  [?]  amongst  the  foun- 
dations of  the  Sanctum  Sanctorum,"  &c. 

In  reading  this  account  of  the  rebuilding  of 
the  Temple,  it  is  difficult  not  to  think  of  the  three 
sojourners  in  the  "  image  "  of  the  trinity ; — of  the 
seven  virtues,  as  prudence,  temperance,  courage, 
fortitude,  hope,  faith,  and  charity,  which  in  them- 
selves are  indestructible,  however  much  they 
may  be  disregarded  by  man ; — of  the  passage 
through  these  to  the  WISDOM  crowning  life ;  and, 
finally,  one  may  hope  that  the  key  is  not  so  abso- 
lutely lost  but  that  it  may  be  found  by  the  faith- 
ful, the  simple,  the  true. 

"While  one  class  of  interpreters  surrender  the 
historical  character  of  the  first  verses  of  Genesis, 
and  another  disregard  the  historical  account  of 
the  building  and  rebuilding  of  the  Temple,  an- 
other class  of  interpreters  think  it  no  impiety  to 
go  so  far  as  to  deny  that  there  ever  was  such  a 
people  as  the  Israelites,  and  affirm  their  belief 


CH.  X.]  A  HERMETIC  PHILOSOPHER.  225 

that  the  whole  history  is  symbolical  and  typical 
of  the  progress  of  man  in  the  process  of  regen- 
eration. 

A  peculiarly  earnest  and  pious  writer,  Mr. 
THOMAS  BKOMLEY,  evidently  a  man  of  great  learn- 
ing, published  a  very  extraordinary  volume  in 
17M,  entitled— The  Way  to  the  Sabbath  of  Rest, 
or  the  Soul's  Progress  in  the  Work  of  the  New 
Birth :  together  with  the  Journeys  of  the  Chil- 
dren of  Israel"  &c.,  in  which  the  whole  account 
of  the  Exodus  is  explained  as  symbolical  and 
typical,  the  historical  character  being,  not  de- 
nied, indeed,  but  entirely  disregarded : — and  this 
account  is  given  purely  in  the  interest  of  piety. 
The  wonders  at  Sinai,  the  waters  of  Horeb,  the 
heavenly  quails  and  manna,  &c.,  &c.,  are  all 
spiritualized,  and  may  thus  be  said,  in  some 
sense,  to  be  naturalized.  The  story  itself  is 
treated  as  a  divine  parable  or  allegory. 

The  fire  in  the  bush  is  interpreted  to  be  the 
Spirit  of  God  in  Moses — God,  in  Scripture,  being 
often  called  a  fire ;  the  waters  flow  from  the  stony 
heart  of  man,  softened  by  the  Spirit  of  God ;  the 
quails  and  the  manna  become  heavenly  truth, 
the  divine  food  of  the  spiritually-awakened  man. 

The  Alchemists,  or  some  of  them,  symbolize 
this  truth  by  dew  from  heaven;  hence  the  er- 
10* 


SWEDENBOKG,  [Cfl.  X. 

roneous  opinion  prevailing  that  the  Alchemists 
thought  that  dew  was  the  universal  solvent ! 
They  thought  that  the  Spirit  of  God  was  the  uni- 
versal solvent,  and  they  tell  us,  in  their  jargon, 
to  gather  dew  upon  the  tops  of  mountains  by 
spreading  clean  linen  cloths,  &c.,  &c.  Their 
writings  fell  into  the  hands  of  an  unbelieving 
generation,  and  this  age  has  inherited  their  mis- 
understandings. 

The  story  of  Robinson  Crusoe  has  been  be- 
lieved true  by  those  who  could  in  nowise  believe 
that  dew  is  the  universal  solvent !  Yet  this  class 
of  readers  have  no  difficulty  in  believing  that 
quails  and  manna  have  been  rained  from  heaven ! 
But  the  actuality  of  the  history  of  the  transition 
from  Egypt — as  the  Land  of  slavery  and  dark- 
ness— to  the  Holy  Land  flowing  with  milk  and 
honey,  the  Land  of  Light  and  peace,  is  manifest- 
ly subordinate  to  the  spiritual  sense,  and  without 
a  spiritual  sense  would  be  on  a  footing  with  other 
histories ;  whereas,  the  spiritual  sense  might  re- 
main in  full  beauty  and  power,  without  a  histori- 
cal basis,  and  thus  free  the  story  from  seeming 
grounds  for  captious  criticism. 

This  mode  of  interpretation  has  one  important 
advantage,  which  many  have  seen,  and  which, 
in  an  inquiring  age  like  this,  ought  by  no  means 


CH.  X.]  A   HERMETIC   PHILOSOPHER.  227 

to  be  overlooked ;  and  on  this  point  the  Sweden- 
borgians  have  just  reason  to  commend  their  sys- 
tem. It  strikes  a  fatal  blow  at  one  of  the  strong- 
holds of  the  literal  reading  infidel.  This  system 
of  interpretation  may  be  applied  to  many  parts 
of  Scripture — to  the  sacrifice  of  Isaac,  for  ex- 
ample. 

The  literal  reading  infidel  cries  out  against 
this  story  as  a  dishonor  to  God, — as  imputing  to 
him  a  violation  of  one  of  the  purest  instincts  of 
life,  implanted  by  God  himself  in  the  breast  of  a 
loving  father.  The  infidel  dwells  with  exultation 
upon  the  horror  of  imagining,  that  the  infinite 
Father  of  all  could  command  a  loving  parent  to 
butcher  his  own  son,  and  then  burn  his  remains 
upon  a  funeral  pyre,  as  an  offering  to  himself. 

To  tell  him  that  the  event  was  in  the  control 
of  God,  and  was  not  permitted  to  be  consum- 
mated,— that  a  substitute  was  provided, — does 
not  satisfy  him.  He  insists  that  this  explanation 
only  changes  a  dishonorable  tragedy  into  an 
equally  disreputable  farce,  absolutely  beneath 
and  derogatory  to  the  divine  majesty. 

If  now  this  story  be  classed  with  other  sym- 
bolic or  allegoric  illustrations  of  principle  and 
eternal  truth,  what  is  the  truth  it  poetically 
teaches  ?  It  is  plainly  this : — that  there  is  but 


228  SWEDENBOKG,  [Cfl.  X. 

one  object  of  supreme  love  for  man,  and  no  man  is 
right-minded  towards  God,  whose  entire  affections 
are  centred  upon  any  subordinate  being.  What 
now  is  stronger  than  the  love  of  a  father  for  a 
son, — for  an  only  son, — for  an  only  son  in  his  old 
age  ?  These  conditions  are  all  seized  upon  in 
this  story,  and  the  sacrifice  of  the  son  is  poetically 
put  for  that  of  the  love  which,  it  was  the  object 
of  the  allegory  to  show,  should  be  subordinate  to 
the  love  of  God.  The  literal  reading  may  cheer- 
fully be  surrendered  to  the  infidel,  but  the  eternal 
truth  it  teaches  will  preserve  the  story  as  a  divine 
allegory  in  the  admiration  of  all  wise  men. 

Philo  interprets  at  great  length  the  story  of 
the  flood,  of  the  ark,  and  of  the  preservation  of 
the  "just,"  as  a  piece  of  poetic  symbolism.  Ac- 
cording to  Philo,  man  is  the  ark,  his  sins  are  the 
overwhelming  flood,  from  which  is  saved  the 
principle  of  truth  and  good  ; — as  true  to-day  as 
when  the  story  was  written. 

It  is  plain  that  he  did  not  consider  the  story 
as  historical,  or,  if  he  did,  it  is  certain  that  he  at- 
tached no  value  to  it  as  history. 

All  such  stories  are  beautiful  as  allegories, 
but  when  their  historic  truth  is  not  only  insisted 
upon,  but,  as  often  happens,  is  made  the  chief  in- 
terest, it  is  calculated  to  drive  away  from  their 


CH.  X.]  A  HERMETIC  PHILO80FHEE.  229 

study  the  more  mature  intellects,  who  often  thus 
lose  the  benefit  of  ancient  wisdom  altogether. 

As  in  the  parables  of  the  Kew  Testament,  so 
in  the  allegories  of  the  Old,  the  truths  taught 
have  no  need  of  historical  reality  for  their  support. 

That  which  distinguishes  the  sacred  writings 
from  all  other  books,  profane  books  so  called,  is 
not  their  historical  verity,  but  it  is  the  spiritual 
truth  enclosed  in  the  divine  representations  con- 
tained in  the  sacred  volume.  The  historical  char- 
acter of  the  entire  record,  from  Genesis  to  Reve- 
lation, may  be  surrendered  without  the  loss  of 
one  "jot  or  tittle  "  of  the  eternal  WOKD,  by  which 
it  was  produced.  When  Jesus  declared  that 
"  Heaven  and  earth  shall  pass  away,  ~but  my  words 
shall  not  pass  away"  he  did  not  speak  of  written 
words ;  for,  as  respects  what  he  said,  his  words 
were  not  then  written ;  nor  did  he  in  a  narrow 
literal  sense  refer  even  to  his  spoken  words,  but 
he  referred  to  that  eternal  truth  in  God,  by  whose 
authority  and  teaching  he  represented  himself  as 
speaking ;  for  he  said  expressly,  "  My  doctrine  is 
not  mine,  but  his  that  sent  me  ;  "  and  in  a  great 
many  forms  he  is  represented  as  repeating  this 
declaration,  as  if  it  was  an  important  part  of  his 
mission  to  guard  against  being  misunderstood  on 
this  point. 


230  8WEDENBOKG,  [Cfl.  X. 

Those  who  are  accustomed  to  dwell  upon  the 
literal  reading  of  Scripture,  are  apt  to  fear  that 
the  truth  itself  is  in  danger  when  the  literal  sense 
is  brought  into  question ;  but  this  is  to  mistake 
the  effect  for  the  cause,  and  imagine  that  the  Bi- 
ble is  the  cause  of  religion,  instead  of  a  product 
of  it.  Some,  still  further  removed  from  the  truth, 
if  possible,  are  of  opinion  that  the  preservation 
of  religion  depends  upon  the  building  and  endow- 
ment of  churches,  not  seeing  that  the  ancient 
temples  and  modern  churches  and  mosques  have 
all  been  produced  by  what  is  called  the  religious 
sentiment  in  man,  which  can  never  be  destroyed 
but  with  the  destruction  of  his  nature.  The  exter- 
nal forms  and  ceremonies  of  religion  may  be  per- 
petuated by  synagogues,  churches  and  mosques, 
but  the  sentiment  or  the  idea  of  religion,  or  what- 
ever may  be  the  name  of  the  spiritual  essence  of 
religion,  can  never  be  lost,  nor  are  churches  es- 
sential to  its  preservation.  Our  Lord  himself 
compared  the  Old  Testament,  or  its  forms  and  cer- 
emonies, to  old  bottles,  by  which  we  are  taught 
to  consider  that  all  external  appliances  for  the 
preservation  of  eternal  truth  are  forever  growing 
old,  and  are  but  the  shell,  the  husks,  the  outside 
of  religion.  To  respect  these  things  is  the  duty 
of  all  good  men  in  every  country ;  but  to  insist 


CH.  X.]  A  HEEMETIC   PHILOSOPHER.  231 

upon  them  as  the  essentials  of  religion,  is  to  rouse 
opposition  in  a  certain  class  of  middle  intelli- 
gences, many  of  whom  fancy  it  an  evidence  of 
high  enlightenment  to  denounce  religion  as  a 
dream,  when  they  only  mean  to  repudiate  the 
show  of  religion  ;  for  even  infidelity  itself  cannot 
destroy  the  core  of  religion  in  the  human  heart. 
To  be  certain  of  this,  it  is  only  necessary  to  know 
what  it  is. 

But  religion  is  not  the  only  field  for  allegory 
and  symbolism.  Truly,  all  the  great  poems  and 
romances  in  the  world  would  be  worthless  if  not 
interpreted  by  the  spirit  of  life.  Dante,  Tasso, 
Ariosto,  Milton, — are  all  allegoric  writers.  Go- 
ethe is  the  great  modern  master  in  this  art.  His 
Travels  of  Meister  are  nothing  but  sketches  of 
the  deepest  soul  experiences  that  man  can  know. 

To  perceive  this,  let  the  reader  of  Meister  di- 
vine the  meaning  of  the  chapters  in  which  the 
story  of  Mary  and  Joseph  passes  before  him,  and 
of  the  chapter  on  the  Lily-stalk  ; — and  then  fol- 
low Meister  into  the  prison  with  impassable  walls, 
and  study  the  design  of  the  author  through  those 
mysterious  chapters  where  the  hero  is  so  im- 
pressed by  a  sense  of  stillness  and  silence  ;  and 
gather  the  meaning  of  the  songs  introduced,  and 
of  the  "  strange  "  noise,  which  "  sounded  as  from 


232  SWEDENBOKG,  [Cfl.  X. 

a  distance,  and  yet  seemed  to  be  in  the  house  it- 
self:"— And  then,  there  is  the  New  Melusina 
episode,  beautifully  illustrating  a  not  uncom- 
mon course  of  experience  known  to  men  of 
genius. 

The  New  Melusina  (16th  chapter  in  Carlyle's 
translation)  is  a  symbolic  representation  of  the 
rise  and  career  of  an  artistic  genius ; — its  start 
from  ordinary  life  (the  "cook  and  landlady"); 
its  joyous  elevating  power  (careering  in  a  car- 
riage with  seemingly  inexhaustible  "  pouches  of 
gold  and  silver,"  imagination  and  fancy) ;  its  de- 
cline under  the  lowering  influences  of  its  employ- 
ment on  inferior  subjects ;  the  doubts  raised 
about  the  wisdom  of  obeying  its  impulses,  and 
the  reassurances  under  a  decision  to  employ  it 
under  the  guidance  of  reason  (improved  "  by  a 
certain  balsam  ") ;  the  incompatibility  of  its  as- 
sociation with  "  moroseness  and  caprice  ;" — and 
then  is  shadowed  out  the  successive  develop- 
ments of  "dwarfs"  (imagination);  "dragons," 
(animal  passions);  "giants,"  (intellectual  pas- 
sions, ambition,  &c.); — and  finally  the  "knights" 
(reason),  the  last  acquisition  in  the  perfecting  line 
of  life.  And  then  we  see  how  the  author  has 
contrived  to  "  marry  "  a  knight  and  a  dwarf  from 
time  to  time  in  the  world,  as  in  Shakspeare,  in 


CH.  X.]  A  HERMETIC   PHILOSOPHER.  233 

whom  reason  and  imagination  seem  to  have  been 
in  equilibrium.  The  whole  thing  is  filled  with 
characteristic  touches ; — the  improvidence  of  the 
poetic  temperament,  commencing  a  journey  with 
"  extra  post,  and  fronting  the  end  on  foot ; " — its 
aversion  to  industry  ("  ants  ") ;  the  loss  of  its,  the 
imagination's,  "  twin  brother  "  (truth) ;  its  oppo- 
sition to  mere  mechanical  views  of  life  and  of  na- 
ture ("music-makers");  and  its  "never  doing 
any  thing  in  the  right-handed  way."  Finally, 
the  imagination  sets  its  subject  down  where  it 
was  taken  up,  in  common  life,  "  with  the  cook 
and  landlady." 

Goethe's  Meister.  notwithstanding  Jeffrey's 
criticism,  is  a  more  profound  study  than  Faust 
itself,  though  either  of  these  works  hold  materials 
for  many  a  month's  study  to  any  one  who  looks 
beyond  the  surface,  and  who  reads  for  something 
besides  pastime  and  amusement ; — to  any  one 
who  has  learned  that  life  is  full  of  vast  realities, 
which  we  must  face  and  examine  if  we  would  not 
be  crushed  by  them. 

But  the  reader  of  such  works,  and  of  all  sym- 
bolic works,  should  be  constantly  on  his  guard 
against  fictitious  interpretations,  and  no  less 
against  attaching  an  undue  value  even  to  the 


234  SWEDENBOEG,  [Cn.  X. 

true  unriddling  of  mysterious  writings,  for  they 
are  not  all  of  equal  value,  and  some  are  of  no 
value  at  all.  Here,  in  this  walk,  I  know  of  no 
art  that  can  supply  the  want  of  genuine  good 
sense. 


CH.  XL]  A  HERMETIC  PHILOSOPHER.  235 


CHAPTER    XI. 

. 

IT  will  not  be  out  of  place  to  refer  here  to 
Bouterwek's  History  of  Spanish  Literature, — 
(translation  by  Ross,  Bohn's  Edition). 

I  find  in  this  work  a  multitude  of  allusions  to 
Hermetic  philosophy,  in  the  extracts  from  Span- 
ish writings,  apparently  not  recognized  by  the 
author,  showing  that  the  principal  writers  of  the 
middle  ages  in  Spain,  as  elsewhere,  were  more  or 
less  imbued  with  a  secret  science  or  art,  no  doubt 
greatly  modified  by  the  particular  genius  receiv- 
ing it,  and  thus  appearing  in  a  great  variety  of 
forms.  I  do  not  pretend  that  all  are  of  equal 
value.  Many  may  be  worthless, — mere  carica- 
tures and  absurdities,  not  deserving  so  much  as 
to  be  named  by  the  side  of  the  Romaunt  of  the 
Rose,  one  of  the  most  perfect  examples  of  Her- 
metic writing. 

I  will  adduce  but  one  example  from  Bouter- 
wek,  and  will  show  how  the  piece  is  to  be  inter- 
preted. 


236  SWEDENBOKG,  [On.  XL 

The  historian  of  Spanish  Literature  thinks  it 
would  be  unjust  to  the  history  of  Spanish  drama- 
tic poetry  during  the  first  half  of  the  sixteenth 
century,  not  to  notice  two  tragedies  by  Geronimo 
Bermudez,  a  Dominican  monk  of  Galicia,  who 
published  them  under  the  assumed  name  of  An- 
tonio de  Silva.  Bouterwek  supposes  that  these 
two  tragedies  were  founded  upon  what  he  calls 
"  the  well-known  story  of  the  unfortunate  Inez 
de  Castro." 

The  "  titles "  of  the  two  tragedies  he  says, 
"  are  whimsical  and  affected : " — though  they 
will  not  appear  so  when  properly  understood. 
"  The  one  is  denominated  Nise  Lastimosa  (the 
Lamentable  Nise,  the  anagram  of  Inez) ;  and  the 
second,  Nise  Laureada  (the  glorified  Nise) ;  and 
under  these  titles  (says  Bouterwek)  they  are  re- 
printed in  the  Parnaso  Espagnol,  vol.  vi." 

The  very  titles  of  these  dramas  might  induce 
us  to  look  a  little  beyond  the  surface  for  their 
signification.  Bouterwek,  however,  seems  to  see 
nothing  in  them  except  some  excellence  in  a 
merely  literary  point  of  view.  He  treats  them 
as  belonging  to  the  current  dramatic  literature 
of  the  time,  and  as  if  they  had  been  actually  rep- 
resented on  the  stage,  though,  in  my  opinion,  the 
author  never  intended  them  for  actual  scenic  rep- 


CH.  XI.]  A  HEKMETIC   PHILOSOPHER.  237 

reservation,  "but  addressed  them  to  a  class  of 
readers  more  common  in  the  Middle  Ages  than 
is  generally  supposed,  who  would  distinguish 
their  spiritual  significance  without  asking  for  or 
desiring  a  visible  exhibition. 

To  assist  the  reader  in  seeing  what  I  shall 
urge  as  the  true  meaning  of  these  dramas,  I  will 
copy  entire  all  that  Bouterwek  says  of  them. 

"  The  first  of  these  tragedies  (says  he)  suffi- 
ciently proves  what  may  be  effected  by  a  drama- 
tist of  even  moderate  talent,  when  thoroughly 
penetrated  with  a  poetic  subject,  and  at  the  same 
time  possessing  the  power  of  eloquent  expression. 
The  Nise  Lastimosa,  it  is  true,  is  far  from  ap- 
proaching the  ideal  of  tragic  perfection;  but 
some  of  the  scenes  fulfil  all  that  the  theory  of  the 
dramatic  art  can  require ;  and  energy  and  dignity 
of  expression  are  not  wanting  even  in  those  pas- 
sages where  the  action  is  tedious  and  the  incidents 
ill-connected.  The  plot  is  simple,  and  towards 
the  conclusion  its  interest  declines.  But  Bermu- 
dez  has  introduced,  by  turns  aptly  and  inaptly,  a 
chorus  composed  of  Coimbran  women,  which  is 
sometimes  interwoven  with  the  action  of  the 
drama,  and  sometimes  quite  independent  of  it. 
The  unities  of  time  and  place  the  author  has  to- 
tally disregarded.  The  first  act  opens  with  a  so- 


238  SWEDENBOKG,  [Cn.  XI. 

liloquy  by  the  Infante  Don  Pedro,  in  which  the 
prince  deplores  his  separation  from  his  beloved 
wife.  This  soliloquy  is  succeeded  by  a  long  con- 
versation between  the  Infante  and  his  secretary, 
in  which  the  latter,  with  all  due  courtesy,  hints 
that  the  attachment  of  the  prince  for  a  lady,  not 
of  royal  birth,  is  incompatible  with  the  welfare 
of  the  State.  The  scene  then  changes,  and  the 
chorus  of  Coimbran  women  is  very  absurdly  in- 
troduced to  moralize  on  love.  Thus,  closes  the 
first  act.  In  the  second,  the  scene  changes  to  the 
court,  and  exhibits  the  king  amidst  his  assembled 
council ;  the  advice  of  the  ministers  prevails  over 
the  good  disposition  of  the  monarch,  and  he  con- 
sents to  the  death  of  Inez  de  Castro.  A  soliloquy 
by  the  king  follows,  in  which  he  offers  up  his 
prayers.  The  scene  again  changes,  and  the  fair 
Coimbrans  once  more  appear  to  moralize  on  hap- 
piness. In  the  third  act,  however,  a  new  spirit 
is  infused  into  the  piece,  and  the  chorus  partakes 
in  the  action.  Inez  de  Castro  appears.  The 
women  of  the  chorus  form  her  attendants,  and 
offer  her  consolation  and  advice.  Inez  is  inform- 
ed of  the  reports  that  are  circulated  respecting 
her  fate ;  but  throughout  this  act,  the  progress 
of  the  story  is  nearly  suspended.  The  fourth  act 
may  however,  be  regarded  as  almost  a  master- 


CH.  XI.]  A  HERMETIC  PHILOSOPHER.  239 

piece.  Inez,  attended  by  her  children,  and  the 
chorus,  appears  before  the  king  to  receive  her 
sentence.  Nothing  can  be  more  expressive  than 
the  dignity  with  which  she  demands  justice,  or 
more  affecting  than  the  tenderness  for  her  chil- 
dren, which  continually  breaks  forth  in  her  dis- 
course. At  length  she  pictures  to  herself  in  vivid 
colors  the  sorrow  that  awaits  her  husband,  till, 
exhausted  by  her  feelings,  she  begins  for  the  first 
time  to  think  of  her  own  situation,  and  antici- 
pating the  horrors  of  death,  she  swoons,  exclaim- 
ing, Jesus  Maria  !  This  scene  exhibits  a  picture 
so  replete  with  real  pathos,  that  it  may  be  truly 
said,  modern  tragic  art  has  seldom  attained  so 
hight  a  point  of  perfection.  The  fifth  act  is 
merely  a  tedious  supplement.  The  prince  is 
made  acquainted  with  the  death  of  his  wife,  and 
he  vents  his  sorrow  in  long  lamentations. 

"  The  tragedy  of  Nise  Laureada  is  far  inferior 
to  that  just  described.  The  story  is  below  criti- 
cism ;  and  towards  the  end  becomes  revolting  to 
feelings  not  blunted  by  inquisitorial  horrors,  or 
sunk  to  the  level  of  brutality.  The  Infante  Don 
Pedro,  who  has  now  ascended  the  throne,  orders 
the  remains  of  his  judicially  murdered  wife  to 
be  taken  from  the  tomb  ;  he  then,  with  great  so- 
lemnity, invests  the  corpse  with  the  dignity  of 


SWEDENBOKG,  [On.  XI. 

queen,  and  the  ceremony  of  the  coronation  is  fol- 
lowed by  a  marriage.  Two  of  the  counsellors, 
whose  perverted  and  inhuman  patriotism  had 
urged  them  to  sacrifice  the  unhappy  Ines,  re- 
ceive sentence  of  death,  and  are  executed.  This 
is  the  whole  plot,  if  so  it  may  be  called ;  and 
among  the  acting  and  speaking  characters,  the 
executioners  play  a  prominent  part.  The  first 
act  contains  many  beautiful  passages ;  but  when 
the  last  judicial  ceremonies  commence,  horror 
and  disgust  fill  the  mind  of  the  reader.  The 
hearts  of  both  culprits  are  extracted  from  their 
bodies,  the  one  through  the  breast,  and  the  other 
through  the  back.  The  most  brutal  exclama- 
tions accompany  the  execution  of  the  royal  sen- 
tence, and  the  chorus  utters  shouts  of  joy,  while 
the  executioner  discharges  his  barbarous  task. 
That  these  horrors  might  be  regarded  as  pathetic 
incidents  by  the  Spaniards  of  that  age,  accus- 
tomed as  they  were  from  early  childhood  to  stifle 
every  sentiment  of  humanity,  and  to  allow  fanati- 
cal exultation  to  overcome  the  natural  emotions 
of  the  heart,  whenever  a  brutal  sentence  was 
pronounced  by  ecclesiastical  or  royal  authority, 
is,  unfortunately,  but  too  probable.  Had  it  not 
been  for  this  perversion  of  feeling,  a  people, 
otherwise  so  noble-minded,  could  not  have  at- 


CH.  XI.]  A   HERMETIC   PHILOSOPHER. 

tended  the  cruel  festivals  of  their  church,  and 
witnessed  the  burning  of  Jews  and  heretics  with 
as  much  pleasure  as  the  exhibition  of  a  bull  fight." 

What  now  do  these  tragedies  signify  ?  They 
never  could  have  been  intended  for  representa- 
tion upon  a  stage.  They  shadow  out  the  au- 
thor's opinion  of  the  fall  of  man,  and  of  his  res- 
toration : — his  fall  is  represented  under  a  sym- 
bolic figure,  by  turning  away  from  the  love  of 
truth,  the  true  wife,  to  the  false ; — to  a  lady  not 
of  royal  descent;  that  is,  to  an  object  not  ap- 
proved by  truth  and  reason,  which  is  always 
"  incompatible  with  the  welfare  of  the  state ;  " 
that  is,  for  this  is  the  meaning,  with  the  MAN, 
who  is  the  state  in  this  tragedy.  In  ordinary 
language,  the  fall  of  man  is  involved  in  the  love 
of  the  world,  as  opposed  to  the  love  of  God. 
The  truth  itself,  in  the  Tragedy,  is  personified  in 
the  queen,  and  is  represented  as  being  put  to 
death  at  the  instigation  of  certain  evil  counsel- 
lore.  This  is  the  substance  of  the  first  tragedy. 

In  the  second  tragedy,  which  Bouterwek  evi- 
dently considers  a  mere  drama  of  outward  life, 
placing  it  below  criticism,  the  author  represents 
the  Prince  as  ascending  the  throne ;  which  means 
that  the  fallen  man,  the  subject  of  the  drama, 
has  returned  to  the  possession  of  Reason,  the  Sol 
11 


242  SWEDENBOKU,  [On.  XI. 

of  the  Hermetic  writers ;  and  the  first  thing  that 
declares  or  evinces  it,  is  the  scene  by  which  the 
murdered  queen,  the  Truth  (the  conscience,  for 
this  is  what  is  signified),  is  recovered  from  her 
tomb,  and  fully  reinstated  as  the  true  wife,  the 
true  object  of  love.  She  is  fully  reinvested  with 
the  dignity  of  queen,  and  is  crowned ;  and,  after 
the  coronation,  reason  and  truth  are  married  ; — 
and  this  is  the  true  "conjugial"  marriage  so 
largely  discussed  and  eulogized  by  Swedenborg 
under  the  names  of  truth  and  good;  meaning 
that,  in  the  perfect  man,  the  understanding  and 
the  will  must  act  as  one : — a  mere  truism,  I  ad- 
mit, and  yet  we  see  but  few  examples  of  it  in 
life. 

The  false  counsellors  are  then  represented  as 
undergoing  the  punishment  of  death,  for  deluding 
the  prince  and  seducing  him  from  his  true  love 
— the  hearts  of  both  being  extracted  from  their 
bodies,  one  through  the  breast  and  the  other 
through  the  back : — and  what  can  this  be  sup- 
posed to  signify? — why  were  there  just  two  suf- 
ferers, and  no  more ;  and  why  was  the  heart  of 
one  extracted  through  the  breast  and  the  other 
through  the  back  ?  What  can  we  suppose  the 
meaning  of  all  this  to  be  but  that  the  spirit,  in 
assuming  its  proper  supremacy  over  the  enticing 


CH.  XL]  A   HERMETIC   PHILOSOPHER.  243 

blandishments  of  the  soul  and  the  body,  is  repre- 
sented as  executing  these  latter  attributes  of  the 
one  man,  distinguishing  one  of  the  two  by  the 
honor  of  having  its  heart  extracted  through  the 
breast,  while  the  heart  of  the  personified  body  is 
drawn  forth  through  the  back,  as  the  most  igno 
ble  of  the  two. 

This  is  the  interpretation  of  these  two  trage- 
dies, whether  it  be  worth  any  thing  or  not.  It 
supposes  a  theory  with  regard  to  man  which 
makes  him  a  triple  person  of  Body,  Soul,  and 
Spirit  (Salt,  Sulphur,  and  Mercury ; — Sweden- 
borg's  Ens,  Cause,  and  Effect,  or  "  proceeding  ") ; 
and  while  either  of  the  two  first  have  the  as- 
cendency, the  true  queen  of  life  is  deposed  and 
dishonored ;  and,  in  order  to  a  restoration,  she 
must  be  reinstated  with  all  her  dignities.  This 
was  the  Hermetic  opinion  of  Bermudez,  the 
Dominican  Monk,  and  this  was  what  he  intended 
to  teach  in  these  anonymously  published  trag- 
edies. 

If  the  reader  asks  why  the  poet  resorted  to  a 
fictitious  representation  in  teaching  so  simple  a 
truth,  several  reasons  might  be  given.  Some  of 
the  most  important  truths  in  the  world  are  neces- 
sarily truisms,  and  ought  to  be  so,  as  being  not 
denied  to  the  most  humble  in  life ;  but  they  are 


244  SWEDENBOKG,  [On.  XI. 

not  the  less  neglected  on  tins  account,  and  need 
to  be  presented  in  a  great  variety  of  forms  to 
arrest  attention  and  thus  secure  an  important  ele- 
ment in  their  success.  In  the  case  of  Bermudez, 
also,  we  may  easily  see  that  he  was  endeavoring 
to  teach  perhaps  the  most  important  of  all  truths, 
the  necessity  of  a  union  in  the  perfect  man,  of 
reason  and  truth,  the  understanding  and  will, 
without  appealing  to  the  Church,  which,  in  his 
age  and  country,  assumed  the  exclusive  control 
of  the  consciences  of  all  men,  and  professed  to 
hold  the  only  authentic  chart  by  which  its  fol- 
lowers were  to  be  guided  to  bliss.  But  there 
were  many,  even  in  the  Church,  who  did  not  in- 
deed teach  a  different  doctrine  from  that  of  the 
Church,  but  taught  it  differently,  and  thought  it 
no  prejudice  to  the  truth  to  put  it  upon  grounds 
which  the  Church,  in  its  external  and  formal 
character,  endeavored  to  suppress  whenever  such 
exhibitions  were  recognized.  The  literature  of 
the  Middle  Ages  will  never  be  understood  by 
any  one  who  fails  to  see  that,  whenever  the  truth 
in  those  ages  attempted  to  walk  abroad,  she  was 
compelled  to  go  veiled,  or  encounter  the  most 
horrid  persecution.  All  genuine  literature, 
dramas,  novels,  romances,  essays,  &c.,  have  a 
higher  purpose  than  amusement;  and  to  read 


CH.  XI.]  A   HERMETIC   PHILOSOPHER.  245 

books  for  mere  pastime  and  amusement  may  be 
a  little,  but  a  very  little,  better  than  other  dissi- 
pations. The  Preacher  no  doubt  understood 
how  to  read  even  books  of  amusement,  when,  in 
the  midst  of  all  of  his  trials  and  experiments  upon 
life,  he  kept  his  "wisdom"  by  him,  and  we 
should  do  the  same  in  our  reading. 

It  may  be  thought  that  I  am  extending  the 
field  of  Hermetic  philosophy  beyond  its  proper 
limits,  and  using  it  as  a  one-idea  hobby. 

I  should  be  sorry  to  incur  just  censure  upon 
this  ground,  but  as  I  am  persuaded  that  the 
learned  men  of  the  Middle  Ages  were  extensively 
imbued  with  that  philosophy,  and  wrote  chiefly 
under  its  veil,  I  cannot  but  so  express  myself.  I 
by  no  means  say  that  the  philosophy  was  equally 
well  understood  by  all  who  used  the  veil.  Yery 
far  from  it ;  and  still  less  would  I  urge  that  the 
mere  shadowing  out  one's  opinions  in  a  fiction — 
a  novel,  a  romance,  or  a  poem,  though  all  of 
these  forms  were  used  by  Hermetic  writers — 
would  bring  an  author  under  this  class  of  writers. 

To  distinguish  the  members  of  this  class  readi- 
ly, some  study  of  Hermetic  philosophy  may  be 
supposed  necessary, — and  in  the  books  by  Her- 
metic writers  themselves  ;  because  it  is  very  dif- 


246 


SWEDENBORG,  [On.  XL 


ficult  to  give  any  intelligible  external  account  of 
it.  It  may  be  emphatically  said,  that  there  is  no 
"  royal  road  "  to  this  sort  of  learning.  A  mere 
verbal  statement  of  a  theory  expressing  some- 
thing of  it,  would  be  very  unsatisfactory,  particu- 
larly if  the  writers  on  the  subject  are  correct  when 
they  tell  us,  that  it  must  first  be  seen  out  of 
"books,  and  then  it  may  be  discovered  in  them. 
A.  plain,  direct,  right-minded  man,  feeling  sure 
that  the  truth  has  nothing  to  fear,  and  can  have 
no  foe  but  falsehood,  may  ask,  why  make  a  mys- 
tery of  this  thing ;  why  not  speak  out  plainly  ? 
The  only  answer  I  can  imagine  to  this  is  the  one 
given  by  the  Hermetic  writers  themselves,  that 
the  secret  is  the  mystery  of  God,  and  is  reserved 
in  the  power  of  God,  to  be  given  to  whomsoever 
he  will ;  and  yet  they  tell  us  that  this  will  is  not 
arbitrarily  exercised,  and  that  the  science  is  a 
true  science ;  by  which  they  mean  that  the  will 
of  God  is  exerted  under  fixed  laws,  themselves 
expressing  the  very  nature  of  God. 

I  will  take  this  opportunity  to  enforce  the 
opinion  I  have  already  intimated,  that  Plato  was 
a  Hermetic  philosopher,  and  that  he  appears  in 
this  character  in  his  Republic. 

A  difference  of  opinion  exists  among  critics, 


CH.  XI.]  A   HERMETIC  PHILOSOPHER.  24:7 

as  to  whether  Plato's  writings  have  any  other 
than  a  surface  meaning.  Those  who  perceive  no 
underlying  sense  must  of  course  be  expected  to 
deny  its  existence  ;  yet  Plato,  in  his  seventh  Let- 
ter, universally  admitted  to  be  genuine,  has  ex- 
pressly withdrawn  one  subject  from  the  field  of 
open  writing,  and  gives  some  reasons  for  it,  say- 
ing that  "  a  matter  of  that  kind  cannot  be  ex- 
pressed by  words,  like  other  things  to  be  learnt ; " 
— and  further,  "But  if  it  had  appeared  to  me 
that  such  matters  could  be  written  or  spoken  of 
sufficiently  before  the  masses  [meaning  the  masses 
of  his  day],  what  could  have  been  done  by  us 
more  beautiful  in  life  than  to  impart  so  great  a 
benefit  to  mankind,  and  to  bring  nature  to  light 
before  all  f  " 

Here  he  tells  us  openly  the  subject  upon  which 
he  has  not  openly  written.  He  goes  on  to  say 
that  the  attempt  to  promulgate  such  matters 
would  benefit  only  a  few,  who  "  are  able  (he  says), 
with  a  little  showing  to  make  discoveries  them- 
selves." 

By  this  passage  we  may  understand  that  Pla- 
to's writings  are  to  be  regarded  as  attempts  to 
show  us  a  "  little  "  of  something,  which  we  are  to 
study  out  for  ourselves ;  and  this  is  entirely  in 
accordance  with  his  opinion  of  the  defect  of  writ- 


248  SWEDENBORG,  [On.  XI. 

ing,  as  a  channel  or  instrument  of  teaching,  given 
towards  the  end  of  Pkcedrus,  where  he  tells  us 
that "  writing  has  this  inconvenience,  and  truly  re- 
sembles painting ;  for  paintings  stand  out  as  if 
they  were  alive ;  but,  if  you  ask  them  any  ques- 
tion, they  observe  a  solemn  silence  : — and  so  it  is 
with  discourses ;  you  would  think  that  they  spoke 
as  though  they  possessed  some  wisdom  ;  but  if 
you  ask  them  about  any  thing  they  say,  from  a 
desire  to  understand  it,  they  give  only  one  and 
the  self-same  answer.  And  when  it  is  once  writ- 
ten, every  discourse  is  tossed  about  everywhere, 
equally  among  those  who  understand  it,  and 
among  those  whom  it  in  no  wise  concerns,  and  it 
knows  not  to  whom  it  ought  to  speak,  and  to 
whom  not.  And  when  it  is  ill-treated  and  un- 
justly reviled,  it  always  needs  its  father  to  help 
it;  for,  of  itself,  it  can  neither  defend  nor  help  it- 
self." 

He  then  contrasts  that  teaching  of  God,  writ- 
ten, as  St.  Paul  said  after  him,  not  upon  tables  of 
stone,  but  upon  the  fleshy  tables  of  the  heart : — 
thus  showing  us  plainly  where  he  sought  knowl- 
edge. 

There  is  a  remarkable  passage  in  the  Protago- 
ras, referring  to  the  use  of  "  veils  "  by  the  ancient 
wise  men,  which,  though  attributed  to  Protagoras 


CH.  XL]  A   HERMETIC   PHILOSOPHER.  249 

himself,  we  may  presume  was  introduced  by 
Plato,  expressly  as  a  caution  to  his  own  readers 
to  look  beyond  the  letter,  the  more  especially  as 
we  know  why  the  master  of  Plato  was  put  to 
death. 

The  passage  in  Protagoras  is  sufficiently  strik- 
ing to  justify  its  citation  in  proof  of  the  point  I 
aim  to  establish.  Socrates  is  represented  as  seek- 
ing Protagoras  for  instruction,  and,  on  meeting 
him,  he  asks  first  whether  their  conversation  shall 
be  conducted  publicly  or  in  private,  to  which 
Protagoras  answers : 

"  You  very  properly  take  precautions  on  my 
behalf.  For  a  stranger  who  visits  powerful 
cities,  and  persuades  the  most  distinguished  of 
the  youth  to  quit  the  society  of  others,  both  kin- 
dred and  not  kindred,  both  old  and  young,  and 
associate  with  him,  in  the  expectation  of  being 
improved  by  his  society,  ought  in  doing  this  to 
be  very  cautious,  for  things  of  this  kind  are  at- 
tended with  no  slight  jealousies  and  enmities, 
and  even  plots.  For  my  part,  I  say  that  the  art 
of  a  Sophist  is  ancient,  but  the  men  who  pro- 
fessed it  in  ancient  times,  fearing  the  odium  at- 
tached to  it,  sought  to  conceal  it,  and  veiled  it 
over,  some  under  the  garb  of  poetry,  as  Homer, 
Hesiod,  and  Simonides ;  and  others  under  that  of 
11* 


250  8WEDENBORG,  [Cfl.  XL 

the  Mysteries  and  Prophecies,  such  as  Orpheus 
and  Musseus,  and  their  followers  ;  and  some  I 
perceive  have  veiled  it  under  the  gymnastic  art, 
as  Iccus  of  Tarentum,  and  one  of  the  present  day 
who  is  a  Sophist,  inferior  to  none,  Herodicus  of 
Selymbria,  who  was  originally  of  Megara.  But 
your  own  Agathocles,  who  was  a  great  Sophist, 
concealed  it  under  the  garb  of  music,  as  did 
Pythoclides  of  Ceos,  and  many  others.  All 
these,  as  I  say,  through  fear  of  jealousies  em- 
ployed these  arts  as  veils" 

The  readers  of  Plato,  therefore,  may  be  ex- 
cused for  supposing  that  there  is  something 
underneath  the  surface  of  his  writings,  to  be  dis- 
covered by  study  under  a  suitable  preparation, 
possibly  justifying  Apuleius  in  referring  to  what 
he  calls  "  those  sublime  and  divine  Platonic  doc- 
trines, understood  by  very  few  of  the  pious,  and 
absolutely  unknown  to  every  one  of  the  profane." 

Olympiodorus  also  says  that  "  Plato,  above 
all  men,  is  difficult  to  be  understood;  for,  like 
Homer,  he  may  be  taken  which  way  you  will, 
either  Physically,  Ethically,  or  Theologically." 
Diogenes  Laertiua  also  tells  us  that  "  Plato  made 
use  of  various  names  to  preserve  his  writings  from 
being  thumbed  by  rude  and  illiterate  readers." 

These  testimonies,  it  is  true,  are  not  required 


Cn.  XL"!  A   HERMETIC   PHILOSOPHER.  251 

by  those  who  see  the  Hermetic  character  of 
Plato's  writings.  Oil  the  other  hand,  they  should 
not  be  urged  as  a  pretence  or  excuse  for  seeking 
in  the  mere  imagination  for  a  sense  to  Plato's 
Dialogues  never  dreamed  of  by  himself.  Let 
his  reader,  I  would  say,  keep  strictly  to  the  real, 
but  with  the  consideration  that  things  unseen 
may  be  quite  as  real  as  those  that  are  visible, 
and  when  truly  known  may  come  to  be  under- 
stood as  the  only  truly  real,  all  visible  things 
being  manifestly  shadows ;  but  they  are  shadows 
of  something  unseen,  and  the  unseen  is  the  prin- 
cipal subject  of  Plato's  writings.  Even  the  Ti- 
mseus  is  not  an  exception,  and  should  be  read  as 
the  conclusion  to  the  Republic,  and  ought  not  to 
be  separated  from  it. 

Yery  severe  criticisms  have  been  made  upon 
Plato  on  account  of  many  things  in  the  supposed 
model  of  a  government  called  the  Republic,  par- 
ticularly in  regard  to  the  seeming  recommenda- 
tion of  a  community  of  women,  so  highly  com- 
mended in  that  work.  Excuses  or  apologies  have 
been  made  by  Plato's  admirers  for  admitting  into 
his  idea  of  a  Republic  a  tenet  so  destructive  to 
civilized  life ;  but  no  adequate  explanation  of  a 
notion  so  extraordinary  is  current  among  reading 


252  8WEDENBOEG,  [Cn.  XI. 

men,  so  far  as  I  know.  Plato's  age  has  been 
condemned  for  both  ignorance  and  corruption  of 
manners  by  way  of  apology  for  this  blot  upon 
his  writings,  but  I  find  nowhere  any  attempt  at 
an  explanation,  which  nevertheless  seems  at 
hand,  and  may  at  least  change  the  ground  of 
censure,  if  nothing  more. 

This  repulsive  feature  in  one  of  Plato's  great- 
est works  calls  loudly  upon  us  to  remember  the 
caution  of  St.  Augustine,  of  Origen,  of  Philo, 
and  others,  not  to  understand  literally  what  ap- 
pears an  abomination  in  ancient  writings.  I  will 
venture  a  suggestion  with  regard  to  the  object  of 
Plato  in  the  Republic,  for  the  consideration  of 
the  more  learned  and  curious  on  the  subject, 
drawn  from  Hermetic  philosophy,  which  all  the 
writers  say  is  older  than  Plato. 

The  Hermetic  philosophers  claim  to  see  (me- 
taphorically, I  mean),  first,  ONE  (thing,  which  is 
not  a  thing] ;  then  Two,  then  ONE  again ;  then 
three  and  one,  or  one  and  three :  and  in  these, 
as  principles,  they  affect  to  see  the  infinite  di- 
versities of  nature  in  the  particular  subject  of 
their  philosophy,  without  going  beyond  their 
principles. 

The  reader  may  wonder  what  this  has  to  do 
with  the  Republic  of  Plato ;  but  I  will  endeavor 


CH.  XI.]  A  HERMETIC   PHILOSOPHER.  253 

to  show  something  of  its  application,  as  hints  to 
be  pursued  at  leisure;  for  the  subject  is  not 
studied  out  in  a  day. 

Call  the  ONE  ease,  being,  substance,  or  by  any 
other  name ;  but  be  in  no  haste  to  imagine  what 
this  ONE  is.  Conceive  yourself  in  the  centre  of 
it ;  imagine  no  origin  to  it,  and  be  sure  it  has  no 
end : — assign  no  limits  to  it,  and  suppose  it  her- 
metically sealed  so  that  nothing  can  pass  into  it 
but  what  belongs  to  it,  and  nothing  pass  out  of  it 
unless  known  to  be  "superfluous."  Then  sup- 
pose two  attributes  coexistent  with  and  in  the 
ONE,  and  call  these,  under  the  same  reservation 
as  to  knowledge,  active  and  passive,  to  which, 
however,  other  names  may  be  given ;  yet  "  they 
are  not  two,  but  one,"  as  the  Hermetic  writers 
say :  and  thus,  or  by  some  other  more  efficacious 
means,  endeavor  to  comply  with  the  requisition 
of  Plato  in  the  Sophist,  and  be  able  to  "  perceive 
one  idea  every  way  extended  through  many 
things,  the  individuals  of  which  are  placed  apart 
from  each  other ;  and  many  ideas,  different  from 
each  other,  externally  comprehended  under  one ; 
and  one  idea  through  many  wholes  conjoined  in 
one ;  and,  lastly,  many  ideas,  every  way  divided 
apart  from  each  other." 

To  be  able  to  do  this  perfectly,  Plato  consid- 


254:  SWEDENBOKG,  [CH.  XI. 

ers  the  science  of  a  free  man.  In  fewer  words,  it 
is  to  be  able  to  see  the  one  in  all,  and  all  in  one ; 
and  this  is  the  claim  of  Swedenborg,  when  he 
says  that  in  turning  entirely  around  and  looking 
in  every  direction  he  saw  the  Lord,  the  ONE 
thing,  or  one  in  all ;  or,  whether  he  calls  it  the 
Lord,  or  God,  or  Grand-man,  or  Substance,  he 
says  it  is  all  the  same. 

Now,  apart  from  this  mere  statement  for  the 
present,  consider  man  as,  physically  and  to  the 
natural  eye,  a  double  organism  in  one,  having  a 
right  side  and  a  left  side,  each  of  the  same 
"  measure  and  size,"  and  observe  that  this  double 
nature  extends  to  every  part  of  his  system ;  his 
tongue,  as  all  physiologists  know,  being  double, 
yet  united  into  one, — as  a  hint,  say  some,  that  we 
ought  to  speak  the  truth. 

A  fanciful  theorist  might  possibly  see  in  these 
two  "  like  "  things,  the  cherubims  we  read  of  in 
Exodus,  from  the  midst  of  which  God  spake  to 
Moses. 

Swedenborg  tells  us  that,  to  the  angels,  the 
Lord  is  seen  through  the  right  eye  as  a  sun,  and 
through  the  left  eye  as  a  moon.  But  he  only 
means  to  suggest  the  double  attributes  of  the 
ONE,  whom  he  calls  the  LORD. 

Let  this  notion  be  now  carried  within  man, 


CH.  XL]  A   HERMETIC   PHILOSOPHER.  255 

and  let  us  see  there  two  things,  metaphorically 
called  the  head  and  the  heart  /  that  is,  thought 
and  will,  or  the  intellect  and  the  affections  ;  or, 
what  Swedenborg  calls  truth  and  good.  And 
now  let  us  see  in  these  two  things  the  Sol  and 
Luna  (the  "  fixed  and  unfixed  ")  of  the  Hermetic 
writers, — which  they  also  call  masculine  and 
feminine,  brother  and  sister,  <fcc.,  and  think  it  no 
sin  to  marry  them  together.  Call  the  intellect 
masculine,  I  say,  and  the  affections  feminine, 
neither  of  them  alone  securing  the  perfection  of 
man  ; — for  a  man  may  be  intellectually  able,  and 
yet  be  an  accomplished  villain ;  and  the  poet 
tells  us  that  "  mere  good  nature  is  a  fool."  Con- 
ceive, then,  the  two  to  be  united  and  to  act  as 
one,  that  is,  in  unison  ;  and  call  this  one  both  a 
MAN  and  a  STATE.  This  STATE  is  under  a  legiti- 
mate monarchy  when  "reason  rules;"  but  it  is 
subject  to  an  oligarchy,  and  to  other  forms  of 
government,  and  finally,  in  the  descending  scale, 
to  an  anarchy,  when  inferior  principles  usurp  the 
ascendency. 

If  we  suppose  a  perfect  development  of  all 
the  powers  and  faculties  of  man,  under  the  influ- 
ence of  true  thoughts  and  right  feelings,  working 
in  unison,  we  shall  have,  I  think,  Plato's  perfect 
republic,  in  which  the  feminine  principle  and  its 


256  8WEDENBOKG,  [Cfl.  XL 

brood  or  family  of  affections  in  man  are  equally 
free  with  the  so-called  masculine  principle,  and 
they  all  share  equally  in  the  government  and  in 
the  burdens  of  the  state, — as  represented  in  the 
Republic, — there  being  an  entire  comity  and 
"COMMUNITY"  of  all  things  in  the  perfect  man. 
But  this  community  is  only  good  in  the  perfect 
man ; — in  the  imperfect  man  it  is  evil. 

Plato's  Eepublic  is  not  a  theory  or  ideal  of  a 
government  among  men,  but  the  ideal  of  man  in 
the  abstract,  whose  condition  is  determined  inter- 
nally by  the  action  and  reaction  of  internal  ele- 
ments under  a  certain  freedom  which  no  external 
law  can  reach.  In  this  STATE  all  the  thoughts 
and  feelings  exist  in  common,  or  as  a  "  communi- 
ty," under  no  restraints  or  compulsions  not  de- 
rived from  their  internal  nature.  Under  these 
circumstances,  the  family  of  thoughts  and  feel- 
ings generated,  will  represent  the  character  of  the 
STATE,  whether  noble  or  base,  elevated  or  de- 
praved. If  true  thoughts  and  good  affections  are 
united,  that  is,  are  married,  in  the  jargon  of  these 
writers,  and  act  as  one,  the  man  lives  on  the  as- 
cending side  of  life  and  tends  towards  heaven, 
that  is,  towards  a  knowledge  of  and  a  union  with 
the  principle  of  life  itself,  which  is  in  God 
only. 


CH.  XI.]  A  HERMETIC   PHILOSOPHER.  257 

A  mere  common-place  reading  of  the  Repub- 
lic will  show  many  passages,  no  doubt,  seemingly 
incompatible  with  this  view,  but  a  more  careful 
study  will  bring  this  explanation  within  proba- 
bility. Such  books  should  be  read  with  an  al- 
lowance for  a  considerable  external  latitude,  but 
under  an  internal  law  of  truth  that  cannot  be  too 
strictly  applied.  The  form  of  all  Hermetic  writ- 
ings is  always  full  of  variety,  and  is  purposely 
made  so  by  the  writers  themselves,  but,  for  rea- 
sons which  have  less  weight  in  this  age  than 
formerly. 

The  inhabitants  of  Plato's  Republic  are  the 
thoughts  and  feelings,  that  is,  the  internal  or 
spiritual  principles  of  man  personified,  the  exter- 
nal form  being  a  Hermetic  veil.  When  wealthy 
citizens  are  spoken  of  in  comparison  with  the 
poor,  no  more  is  intended  than  to  indicate  some 
disproportion  of  natural  power  among  the  ele- 
ments within  man.  "Wisdom  is  often  called 
wealth  in  Plato ;  as  in  Cratylus,  where  HERMOGE- 
NES  is  represented  as  being  covetous  of  wealth, 
but  without  acquiring  it.  In  this  dialogue  HEB- 
MOGENES  personates  the  natural  man,  incapable 
of  appreciating  the  knowledge  of  CBATYLUS  and 
of  SOCKATES  on  the  nature  of  things, — which  is 
the  subject  of  that  dialogue,  under  the  Hermetic 


258  SWEDENBOKG,  [On.  XL 

form  of  an  inquiry  into  the  origin  of  language. 
All  of  the  critics  appear  to  regard  this  beautiful 
dialogue  as  devoted  by  Plato  to  an  inquiry  into 
the  origin  of  the  Greek  language,  and  no  one 
seems  to  perceive  that  this  is  a  mere  veil,  the  ex- 
ternal form  of  an  inquiry  of  a  totally  different 
character ;  and  they  are  all  puzzled  with  the  dia- 
logue, and  express  astonishment  at  what  they 
regard  as  Plato's  puerilities  and  absurdities  in 
regard  to  the  language,  whose  origin  is  the  pro- 
fessed object  of  inquiry.  One  of  the  recent 
translators  of  Plato,  BUKGES,  has  even  ventured  in 
some  places  to  deny  Plato's  knowledge  of  his  own 
language,  instead  of  feeling  himself  invited,  by 
the  absurdities  he  saw,  to  look  beyond  the  letter. 

Thomas  Taylor  had  good  reason  for  declaring 
that  philology  is  not  philosophy. 

But  to  return  to  the  Republic. 

Before  taking  leave  of  this  subject,  I  desire  to 
suggest,  as  a  study  for  those  who  interest  them- 
selves in  such  questions,  that  Plato's  idea  of  the 
perfect  man,  as  indicated  in  the  Republic,  is  sub- 
stantially the  same  as  Swedenborg's  idea  of  the 
grand-man,  whom  he  places  in  Heaven,  where 
the  Greek  philosopher  also  places  his  perfect  man, 
— as  may  be  seen  towards  the  close  of  the  9th 


CH.  XI.]  A.  HERMETIC   PHILOSOPHER.  259 

book  of  his  Treatise ;  or,  to  be  minutely  exact, 
the  "  pattern,"  described  by  Plato  as  in  Heaven, 
is  the  pattern  of  Swedenborg's  grand-man  ;  and 
the  perfect  man  formed  after  that  pattern  is  Swe- 
denborg's angel,  or  what  he  calls  "  heaven  in  its 
least  form." 

Hermetic  writers  recommend  the  reading  of 
many,  but  good  books,  upon  their  subject ;  be- 
cause, as  they  say,  "one  book  openeth  another ; " 
in  view  of  which  sound  advice,  I  have  no  hesita- 
tion in  saying  that  both  Plato  and  Spinoza  will 
very  greatly  assist  in  opening  Swedenborg ;  for 
they  are  something  like  fountains  to  his  stream, 
the  color  of  which  will  show,  however,  the  Her- 
metic soil  through  which  it  has  passed,  to  those 
who  make  themselves  acquainted  with  that  soil. 
This  may  startle  those  who  are  not  accustomed  to 
consider  ideas  under  words,  and  are  unable  to 
find  what  some  of  the  writers  call  the  centre  of 
this  subject.  If  truth  is  one,  as  everybody  says,  it 
is  theoretically  certain  that  the  best  philosophers 
must  approach  each  other  in  their  main  principles, 
and  must  ultimately  occupy  the  same  ground. 
Hence,  students  of  this  subject  have  placed  the 
great  masters,  Plato,  Zeno,  and  even  Epicurus, 
nearer  to  each  other  than  their  respective  follow- 
ers, who  appeal  to  their  authority,  and  lose  sight 


260  8WEDENBOKG,  [CH.  XI. 

of  that  essential  truth  which  the  best  philosophers 
all  know  is  most  real,  and  yet  most  purely  ideal ; 
for  these,  in  the  last  analysis,  are  two  phases  of 
one  thing.  Plato  points  at  this  ONE  in  the  6th 
book  of  the  Republic,  as  something  beyond  the 
visible  sun  (Swedenborg's  sun  of  the  natural 
world,  and  the  Lord,  as  seen  through  the  "  left 
eye  ") ;  and  beyond  the  intellectual  sun  (Sweden- 
borg's sun  of  the  spiritual  world,  and  the  Lord, 
as  seen  through  the  "  right  eye  ").  Plato  calls  it 
the  GOOD,  and  says  "it  is  not  essence,  but  beyond 
essence,  and  is  superior  to  both  (suns)  in  dignity 
and  power ; "  and  this  is  the  One,  called  by  Swe- 
denborg  the  Lord,  who  is  seen  "  everywhere  "  in 
power,  but  nowhere  in  essence. 

If  now  any  one  cries  out  against  this  view, 
and  declares  that  nothing  of  these  similitudes  can 
be  found  in  Plato,  either  to  Swedenborg,  or  to 
those  who  wrote  of  salt,  sulphur,  and  mercury,  in 
the  middle  ages,  I  feel  much  disposed  to  say  that 
such  a  critic  would  be  in  danger  of  seeing  no  men 
in  a  foreign  country,  because  dressed  perhaps  in  a 
different  fashion  from  what  he  is  familiar  with. 

That  all  men  have  something  in  common,  is 
only  saying  that  all  men  are  men  ;  but  that  which 
ought  to  be  common  among  philosophers,  and 
should  mark  them  as  a  class,  is  necessarily  their 


CH.  XL]  A   HERMETIC   PHILOSOPHER.  261 

idea  of  man,  and  this  must  necessarily  tend  to 
unity :  but,  in  proportion  as  it  does  so,  it  must 
more  and  more  be  removed  from  external  mani- 
festations, and  must  finally  be  found  in  Heaven, 
with  Plato's  pattern  and  Swedenborg's  grand- 
man  ;  where  also  is  to  be  found  the  "  City  of 
God  "  of  St.  Augustine,  and  no  less  the  "  City  " 
of  Antoninus,  who  saw  it  only  in  his  meditations ; 
for  on  earth  it  is  not  seen,  except  by  "  art,"  as 
they  say :  and  yet  it  is  said  to  be  the  most  real 
of  all  things,  and  may  become  visible  even  on 
earth  to  the  clarified  eye. 

All  good  men  strive  to  see  this  city,  and  it  is 
the  struggle  of  life  to  be  worthy  of  it ;  for  to  live 
in  that  city  is  to  live  in  Heaven,  and  this,  inde- 
pendently of  all  considerations  of  time, — if  what 
they  tell  us  of  it  is  true. 

For  a  description  of  life  in  this  city  of  the 
blessed,  I  would  refer  to  the  little  poem  placed 
in  the  preface  to  my  Remarks  on  Alchemy, — 
which  "  may  be  held  a  fable ; "  but  the  poet  tells 
us  that, 

"  Who  first 

Made  and  recited  it,  hath  in  that  fable 
Shadow'd  a  Truth." 

Those  who  doubt  the  possibility  of  such  a 


262  SWKDENBOKG,  [Cfl.  XI. 

state  or  condition,  and  feel  disposed  to  ridicule 
the  idea  of  it  as  fantastical  and  unsuited  to  a 
world  of  practical  labor  and  trial,  might  do  well 
to  consider  whether  such  a  doubt  does  not  ex- 
hibit one  who  lives  in  the  calamitous  condition 
of  being  ignorant  of  the  true  worth  and  possibili- 
ties of  his  own  nature.  Here  is  a  theme  for 
earnest  eloquence,  but  I  am  not  a  practised 
writer,  and  strive  only  to  express  myself  with 
clearness.  I  therefore  waive  a  topic  that  might 
possibly  suffer  from  my  inexperienced  and  di- 
dactic pen. 

I  will  merely  remark,  in  concluding  this 
chapter,  that  Plato's  opinions  upon  government 
must  not  be  sought  in  the  Republic,  but  in  the 
longest,  though  perhaps  not  the  most  studied  of 
all  his  works,  the  LAWS. 


CH.  XII.  A  HERMETIC   PHILOSOPHER.  263 


CHAPTEE    XII. 

HAVING-  thus  pointed  out  the  Hermetic  char- 
acter of  Swedenborg's  writings,  I  feel  that  my 
notice  of  their  remarkable  author  will  be  incom- 
plete unless  I  indicate  also,  his  connection  with 
or  dependence  upon  the  writings  and  principles 
of  a  man  who  nourished  about  one  hundred  years 
before  him ;  one  of  the  most  extraordinary  men 
of  modern  times,  whose  name  the  whole  world  at 
one  period  seemed  anxious  to  load  with  obloquy, 
but  whose  reputation  for  purity  of  life  is  now 
universally  acknowledged,  while  his  philosophy 
is  beginning  to  be  recognized  as  worthy  the  care- 
ful study  of  all  those  who  desire  to  know  the 
power  of  the  human  intellect  as  manifested  in 
works  of  thought  upon  abstruse  and  difficult 
subjects. 

It  is  most  remarkable  that,  although  Sweden- 


264  SWEDENBORG,  [On.  XII. 

borg,  especially  in  his  philosophical  writings, 
shows  the  most  intimate  acquaintance  with  all 
the  learning  of  his  day,  quoting  largely  from  a 
great  number  of  works  upon  the  anatomy,  physi- 
ology, and  philosophy  of  man,  never  so  much  as 
once,  so  far  as  I  now  remember,  makes  the  least 
allusion  to  the  name  of  BENEDICT  SPINOZA,  the 
born  but  anathematized  Jew,  who  nevertheless 
furnished  him  with  some  of  the  most  profound 
principles  announced  and  developed  in  his  re- 
ligious works. 

The  similitude,  or  rather  the  identity  of  the 
doctrines  or  principles  of  these  two  men,  is  a 
most  interesting  and  curious  fact,  which  can  be 
established  by  citations  from  their  respective 
works  with  so  much  clearness  that  the  most 
hasty  reader  cannot  fail  to  recognize  it. 

Some  years  ago,  in  1846, 1  printed  for  circu- 
lation among  my  friends  a  series  of  parallel  ex- 
tracts from  the  writings  of  Spinoza  and  Sweden- 
borg,  the  object  of  which  was  to  show,  as  a  spec- 
ulative curiosity,  the  remarkable  identity  of  the 
doctrines  of  the  two  men,  regarded  from  a  scien- 
tific point  of  view.  I  called  attention  to  the 
fact,  that  while  one  of  the  two  men  had  been  re- 
viled as  the  veriest  Atheist  the  world  has  pro- 
duced, the  other  has  been  held  forth,  by  a  con- 


CH.  XIL]  A  HEKMETIO   PHILOSOPHER.  265 

siderable  body  of  followers,  as  expressly  illumi- 
nated for  the  purpose  of  teaching  the  True  Chris- 
tian Religion.  It  struck  me  that  reflecting  men 
might  see  in  the  parallel  I  presented,  matter 
worth  their  serious  consideration,  and  I  still  think 
the  subject  worthy  the  attention  of  all  considerate 
men. 

The  parallel  to  which  I  refer  ought  to  teach 
us  moderation  and  charity,  and  must'  suggest  the 
probability,  at  least,  that  if  Spinoza's  enemies 
were  right  in  their  abuse  of  his  writings  and 
character,  the  friends  of  Swedenborg  can  hardly 
fail  to  be  in  error  in  their  admiration  of  the 
Swedish  Philosopher ;  while,  on  the  other  hand, 
if  the  followers  of  Swedenborg  are  justified  in 
their  approval  of  his  doctrines,  the  revilers  of  \ 
Spinoza  must  have  been  in  error. 

But  the  reader  may  say  that  I  am  in  too  much 
haste  in  making  inferences  and  comments,  and 
ought  first  to  point  out  the  likeness  between  the 
two  men,  if  indeed  it  exists. 

I  shall  show  presently  its  prominent  features ; 
but  I  desire  to  say  that,  in  the  pamphlet  to  which 
I  refer,  it  was  not  my  purpose,  neither  is  it  now 
my  purpose,  to  approve  or  condemn  the  doctrines 
in  question.  I  remarked  in  the  pamphlet,  and  I 
repeat  now,  that,  in  the  estimation  of  gome,  the 
12 


SWEDENBORG,  [C1H.  XII. 

dissimilarities  between  the  two  men  in  their 
writings  may  be  even  greater  than  their  points 
of  likeness,  but  that  it  is  not  easy  to  see  how 
men,  whose  groundwork  is  the  same,  can  very 
widely  separate  from  each  other  without  subject- 
ing one  of  the  parties,  at  least,  to  the  charge  of 
inconsistency  or  incon sequentially.  But  the 
most  inveterate  enemies  of  Spinoza,  I  believe,  do 
not  accuse  him  of  inconsistency  in  the  doctrines 
he  develops  from  his  principles.  On  the  con- 
trary, it  is  generally  asserted  by  those  who  have 
examined  his  writings,  that  if  his  definitions  and 
axioms  are  granted,  his  entire  system  follows 
without  the  possibility  of  being  overthrown. 
Accordingly,  a  recent  writer  has  undertaken  to 
destroy  the  whole  system  of  Spinoza's  Ethics  by 
objecting  to  his  first  definition. 

For  my  own  part,  I  will  confess  that  I  have 
never  been  able  to  follow  Spinoza's  demonstra- 
tions through,  connectedly,  from  first  to  last.  As 
a  demonstrable  system,  therefore,  the  Ethics  of 
Spinoza  has  never  taken  hold  of  me.  I  am  not 
therefore  a  Spinozist.  Yet, — and  this  may  seem 
singular, — the  two  last  parts  of  the  Ethics,  seem 
very  beautiful  and  fascinating,  without  any  refer- 
ence to  the  formal  basis  laid  in  the  preceding 
parts ;  and  I  must  say,  especially,  that  the  very 


CH.  XII.]  A   HERMETIC  PHILOSOPHER.  267 

last  proposition  of  the  entire  work  seems  more 
clear  to  me  than  the  first,  and  would  sooner  be 
assumed  by  me,  as  the  basis  of  a  system,  than 
almost  any  thing  in  the  whole  work, — if  I  de- 
sired to  make  a  system  myself. 

Spinoza,  after  defining  Substance  to  be  that 
which  exists  of  itself,  and  is  conceived  by  itself; 
and  modes,  to  be  the  affections  of  substance,  an- 
nounces, as  his  first  proposition,  that,  Substance 
is  prior  in  nature  to  its  affections :  and  he  re- 
fers, for  proof,  to  his  definitions. 

I  say  now,  that  this  proposition  is  not  demon- 
strated; because,  we  may  conceive  the  coexist- 
ence of  the  two,  substance  and  its  affections, 
without  conceiving  the  priority  of  substance.  It 
is  true  that  the  affections  of  substance  cannot  be 
conceived  without  the  idea  of  substance,  but  this 
does  not  necessarily  suppose  priority.  This  first 
proposition  is  not  so  clear  to  me,  therefore,  as  the 
very  last  in  the  work,  which  is  in  these  words ; 
Prop.  42,  Part  5 :  "  Happiness  (Beatitudo ; 
Bliss)  is  not  the  reward  of  virtue,  but  it  is  virtue 
itself ;  and  we  do  not  enjoy  (or  possess)  it,  be- 
cause we  restrain  our  bad  or  evil  desires  (libido, 
evil  propensities),  but,  on  the  contrary,  ^tis  because 
we  possess  or  enjoy  it  that  we  are  enabled  to  re- 
strain our  lusts" 


268 


SWEDENBOKG,  [On.  XII. 


This  proposition  is  almost  self-evident,  and 
scarcely  needs  any  thing  for  its  proof  but  a  little 
experience  and  observation  of  life.  In  the  ex- 
ternal world  of  nature  and  time,  rewards  and 
punishments,  both  being  temporal,  follow  the 
conduct  of  man,  and  are  of  a  nature  altogether 
different  from  the  conduct  itself,  and  are  often 
wholly  unforeseen  ;  but  these  are  incidents  in  life, 
and  do  not  constitute  its  real  happiness  or  misery. 
The  true  bliss  lies  in  the  very  substance  of  life  it- 
self, and  not  in  its  affections ;  and  this  substance 
of  life  is  what  Spinoza  in  this  proposition  calls 
virtue,  elsewhere  calling  it  power ;  by  which  he 
means,  in  fact,  the  power  of  God,  in  which  alone 
man  is  secure  against  the  evil  affections,  because 
all  affections  are  subordinate  to  this  one  power. 
Hence,  a  sense  of  its  possession  is  the  glory  of 
man,  though  its  attainment  may  require  the 
transmutation  so  much  talked  of  by  the  Hermetic 
writers : — a  change  from  a  state  of  nature  to  a 
state  of  grace. 

I  admire  the  Fourth  and  Fifth  Parts  of  Spi- 
noza's Ethics  so  much  that  I  can  almost  accept 
the  First  Part  upon  my  faith  iu  the  last ;  but  I 
cannot  reverse  this  order  and  receive  the  latter 
portions  of  the  Ethics  upon  any  convictions  de- 
rived from  the  demonstrations  in  the  First.  I 


CH.  XII.]  A  HERMETIC  PHILOSOPHER.  269 

therefore  prefer  to  read  the  Ethics  "backwards, 
and  stop  somewhere  in  the  Fourth  Part.  If  any- 
one can  read  the  beautiful  developments  in  the 
last  Two  Parts  of  the  Ethics  of  Spinoza  without 
imbibing  a  great  respect  for  their  author  and  a 
deep  sense  of  gratitude  for  so  much  light  and  in- 
struction as  may  there  be  found,  he  is  much  to 
be  pitied.  But  to  return  to  my  subject.* 

If  I  make  good  the  point  I  suggest,  of  a  like- 
ness between  the  doctrines  of  Spinoza  and  those 
of  Swedenborg,  it  will  appear  remarkable  that 
many  of  them  should  be  found,  where  they  will 
be  found,  in  one  of  the  latest  and  most  religious 
of  Swedenborg's  works, — that  entitled  The  True 
Christian  Religion.  If  the  principles  to  which 
I  refer  were  discoverable  only  in  his  philosophi- 
cal works,  written  before  what  he  called  the 
opening  of  his  internal  sight,  it  might  be  imagined 
that  under  the  correction  of  a  higher  light  they 
had  been  abandoned;  but,  in  truth,  they  may 
all  be  found  in  his  religious  works, — introduced 
there  indeed  with  studied  precision. 

It  is  generally  said  that  every  system  of 
thought,  where  thought  takes  the  form  of  a  sys- 

*  I  hope  Mr.  Lewes  will  fulfil  the  promise  made  in  his  Life 
of  Goethe,  and  soon  give  us  an  English  version  of  Spinoza's  en- 
tire works. 


270 


SWEDENBOKG,  [Cu.  XII. 


tern,  depends  very  much  if  not  altogether  upon 
the  idea  of  God.  It  is  true  indeed,  that  the  con- 
trary statement  is  also  made, — that,  every  man's 
idea  of  the  Deity  expresses  his  individual  charac- 
ter and  mode  of  thought ;  that,  instead  of  saying 
that  God  made  man  after  his  own  image,  it  may 
be  said  more  truly  that  man  imagines  God  after 
his  image. 

However  this  may  be,  it  was  Spinoza's  opin- 
ion that  some  idea  of  God  must  be  presupposed 
in  every  attempt  to  form  any  system  of  doctrines 
whatever;  for  he  says  in  Chapter  4th  of  his 
Tract  on  Theology  and  Politics,  that, — "  since  all 
our  knowledge,  and  certainty  which  removes  all 
doubt,  depends  only  upon  the  knowledge  of  God, 
— because  nothing  can  be,  or  be  known  without 
God,  and  because  we  may  doubt  of  all  things 
while  we  have  no  clear  and  distinct  idea  of  God, 
— it  follows,  that  our  perfection  and  chiefest  hap- 
piness depends  only  upon  the  knowledge  of  God." 

In  this  passage  God  is  conceived  as  the  im- 
mutable; because,  as  any  one  may  see — unless 
something  fixed  and  unchangeable  be  supposed, 
there  can  be  no  science  or  knowledge  of  any 
thing.  Unless  something  permanent  be  assumed, 
we  could  not  depend  upon  the  continuance  of  our 
knowledge  of  any  thing  whatever  for  one  single 


CH.  XII,]  A  HERMETIC  PHILOSOPHER.  271 

moment.  The  world  is  only  not  a  chaos,  because 
there  is  something  unchangeably  holding  it  in 
order,  even  amidst  all  its  apparent  changes. 
Hence,  with  Spinoza,  the  existence  of  God  was  a 
first  principle — the  most  immediate  and  absolute 
of  all  intuitions — above  all  demonstration,  since 
every  demonstration  assumes  it.  Still,  he  carries 
his  readers  through  a  series  of  propositions  de- 
monstrative of  the  existence  of  God,  though  such 
demonstrations  have  never  convinced  any  human 
being  who  needed  a  demonstration  at  all.  So 
far,  however,  were  these  demonstrations  from 
convincing  Spinoza  himself,  that,  evidently,  on 
the  contrary,  they  were  the  mere  product  of  his 
own  convictions  antecedent  to  them — as  all  de- 
monstrations indeed  must  be  antecedently  in  the 
mind  of  the  demonstrator.  To  Spinoza  there 
was  nothing  so  evident  as  the  existence  of  God ; 
but  his  demonstrations  close  with  the  declaration 
that  He  cannot  be  made  known  or  described  by 
any  "mark"  whatever;  his  Being,  being  alto- 
gether "  UNIQUE  " — not  falling  within  the  possi- 
bility of  being  imaged  by  any  thing  whatever. 
This  is  truly  the  Mosaic  doctrine — "  Thou  shalt 
not  make  to  thyself  any  graven  image,"  &c. — 
only  Spinoza  extends  the  prohibition  virtually  to 
,  and  would  have  us  understand  that 


272  SWEDENBOKG,  [Ca.  XII. 

God  not  only  cannot  be  imaged  by  the  graver, 
but  cannot  be  described  by  human  language. 

But  Swedenborg  held  the  same  doctrine,  as 
may  be  seen  by  the  following  passage  from  the 
True  Christian  Religion,  to  wit : 

"  The  esse  of  God,  or  the  Divine  Esse,  cannot 
be  described,  because  it  is  above  every  idea  of 
human  thought,  into  which  [human  thought] 
nothing  else  falls  than  what  is  created  and  finite, 
but  not  what  is  uncreate  and  infinite :  thus  not 
the  Divine  esse." 

"Why,  then,  it  may  be  asked,  did  they  write 
about  God  ? 

The  genuine  Hermetic  writers  saw  this  point 
with  perfect  clearness,  and  hence,  among  other 
reasons,  they  wrote  about  /Salt,  /Sulphur,  and 
Mercury,  and  left  the  reader  to  discover  for  him- 
self, under  the  blessing  of  God,  that  which  is  not 
of  a  transferable  nature  among  men. 

"  Our  practice,"  says  a  Hermetic  writer,  "  is 
in  effect  a  track  in  the  sands,  where  one  ought  to 
conduct  one's  self  rather  by  the  North  Star  than 
by  any  footsteps  which  are  seen  imprinted  there. 
The  confusion  of  the  tracks,  which  an  almost  in- 
finite number  of  people  have  left  there,  is  so 
great,  and  one  finds  so  many  different  paths,  al- 
most all  of  them  leading  into  most  frightful  des- 


Ce.  XII.]  A   HERMETIC   PHILOSOPHER. 

erts,  that  it  is  almost  impossible  not  to  stray  from 
the  true  Road,  which  only  Sages  favored  by 
Heaven  have  happily  known  how  to  find  out 
and  discover."  "  It  is  a  Path  (says  another  of 
the  same  class  of  writers,  quoting  Job)  which  no 
Fowl  knoweth,  and  which  the  Vulture's  eye  hath 
not  seen." 

One  would  think  that  Spinoza  had  taken  suf- 
ficient and  praiseworthy  care  to  remove  the  no- 
tion that  by  God  he  meant  external  and  visible 
nature,  expressly  denying  it,  among  other  evi- 
dences, in  a  published  letter  to  Oldenburg ;  yet 
he  has  by  some  been  charged  with  making  nature 
God.  Others,  driven  from  this  point,  have  gone 
to  the  other  extreme  ;  and,  seeing  how  carefully 
Spinoza  has  endeavored  to  guard  against  the 
notion  of  an  imaged  God,  which  with  him  was 
an  imaginary  God,  have  denied  that  his  idea  of 
God  was  any  thing  at  all : — so  difficult  is  it  for 
man  to  reach  an  idea  independently  of  an  image. 
Some  say  it  is  impossible  to  have  such  an  idea — 
an  idea  without  an  image.  If  this  is  really  so, 
then,  indeed,  I  do  not  see  to  what  purpose  any 
one  can  write  or  read,  or  even  think  of  God ;  for 
it  is  certain  that  no  image  or  imagined  tiling  can 
represent  the  eternal,  invisible,  immutable  Being 

we  call  God.     Our  idea  of  God  may  be  imper- 
12* 


SWEDENBORG,  [CH.  XII. 

feet,  and  may  contain  sensuous  imagery  which 
may  need  to  be  eliminated,  but  to  deny  alto- 
gether the  possibility  of  freeing  it  from  the  cloud 
in  which  it  may  first  be  recognized,  is  equivalent, 
it  seems  to  me,  to  a  denial  of  the  possibility  of 
both  a  true  religion  and  a  true  philosophy ;  for 
it  is  undeniable  that  these  must  not  only  rest 
upon  some  idea  of  God,  but  will  be  true  only  so 
far  as  that  idea  is  true.  Let  the  searcher,  there- 
fore, examine  his  idea  of  God,  and  continue  his 
examination  until  he  feels  satisfied  that  he  has 
one  upon  which  he  can  repose,  and  yet  it  must 
be  that  such  an  idea  cannot  be  found  in  books 
alone,  unless  by  some  very  remote  analogy. 

Mathematicians  have  what  they  call  the  idea 
of  a  triangle,  as  also  the  idea  of  a  circle,  of  an 
ellipse,  of  a  parabola,  &c.,  all  coexisting  in  one 
mind  without  jostling  each  other;  and  from  the 
idea  of  a  triangle,  for  example,  they  demonstrate 
innumerable  properties  without  affirming  the  ex- 
istence or  reality  of  any  triangle  in  nature,  while 
yet  from  the  force  of  the  idea  alone  they  affirm, 
conditionally,  that  if  any  triangle  exists  in  nature 
it  must  exist  necessarily  under  the  law  of  the 
idea. 

Spinoza  seems  to  have  carried  this  notion  of 
an  IDEA,  to  the  Idea  of  GOD  as  [a]  self-existence, 


CH.  XII.]  A  HERMETIC  PHILOSOPHER.  275 

of  such  a  nature  as  to  include  all  possible  exist- 
ences of  a  specific  or  finite  nature,  so  that  nothing 
can  exist  specifically  except  in  conformity  with 
the  nature,  that  is,  with  the  law  of  the  uncreate, 
— the  self-existence ; — and  this  in  theological  lan- 
guage is  expressed  by  saying  that  all  things  exist 
by  the  will  of  God  (except  God  himself,  the  un- 
create — the  self-existence) ;  because,  in  Spinoza's 
sense,  the  will  of  God,  and  the  nature  of  God, 
and  the  law  of  God,  are  one  and  the  same. 

In  saying  that  something  immutable  must  be 
conceived  before  there  can  be  any  science  or 
knowledge  whatever,  nothing  more  is  expressed 
than  a  demand  of  the  intellect.  It  is  involved  in 
the  mere  expression,  that  if  something  be  not 
fixed,  then  nothing  is  fixed,  and  of  course  no  sci- 
ence. The  postulate  in  itself  is  simple  enough, 
and  is  acceptable  to  every  one.  The  difficulty 
lies  in  determining  what  that  is  which  is  immuta- 
ble, and  here  it  is  that  Spinoza,  following  his  own 
ancestor  of  the  Pentateuch,  declares  that  it  can- 
not be  known  by  any  "  mark  "  whatever.  This, 
say  the  Hermetic  writers,  is  to  be  "  seen  by  the 
eye  of  the  mind,"  and  though  the  fixed  is  not  the 
movable,  yet  when  the  fixed  is  known  it  is  un- 
derstood in  what  sense  the  movable  is  fixed  also, 
because  its  motions  all  take  place  according  to 


276  SWEDENBORG,  [Cn.  XII. 

the  law  of  the  fixed.  In  Hermetic  language,  call 
the  fixed,  sulphur')  the  movable,  mercury;  and 
find  their  unity,  which  may  then  be  called  salt, 
and  the  problem  of  the  Hermetic  Trinity  will  be 
solved.  But  this  problem  is  never  solved  on  pa- 
per until  after  it  has  been  solved  in  another 
fashion.  Thus,  say  several  of  the  writers, — vir- 
tually all  Hermetic  writers, — it  may  be  found  by 
a  profound  contemplation  upon  experience  in 
life,  and  "  not  otherwise ; "  and  then  it  may  be 
recognized  in  books.  To  make  this  discovery 
man  must,  like  Moses,  enter  the  tabernacle  un- 
veiled. 

I  thought  proper  to  premise  thus  much  be- 
cause Spinoza  made  the  existence  of  God  a  pre- 
requisite in  his  system,  and  devotes  the  first  part 
of  his  Ethics  to  the  proof  of  it,  while  yet  the 
principle  is  beyond  and  above  all  proof,  and 
never  fails  to  confound  the  intellect  that  would 
hold  it  otherwise  than  by  submission  to  it. 

That  Swedenborg  attached  the  same  impor- 
tance to  this  first  principle  may  be  inferred  from 
his  efforts  to  establish  the  doctrine  of  the  one 
substance,  the  Esse  of  God,  at  the  commencement 
of  his  most  systematic  works ;  as,  for  example, 
in  his  work  on  Divine  Love  and  Divine  Wisdom ; 
his  work  on  the  True  Christian  Keligion;  and 


CH.  XII.]  A  HERMETIC   PHILOSOPHEK.  277 

also  his  volume  on  Heaven  and  Hell.  But  those 
who  read  these  works  ought  not  to  imagine  that 
they  understand  this  thing  until  they  can  recon- 
cile Swedenborg's  declaration  that  "  the  Divine 
Esse  is  above  every  idea  of  human  thought," 
with  his  no  less  positive  affirmation,  that  God  is 
the  Lord,  that  the  Lord  is  Life  and  is  seen  every- 
where. 

Swedenborg's  works  are  extremely  valuable, 
but  their  author  never  intended  that  they  should 
supersede  the  gospel  of  John  in  enabling  us  to 
understand  the  WORD  that  was  with  God  and  was 
rod  in  the  beginning,  and  was  "  made  flesh." 

But  it  is  time  now  to  show  the  parallel  to 
liich  I  have  referred. 

I.  OF  GOD,  according  to  Swedenborg. 

"  Every  one  who  thinks  from  clear  reason,  sees  that 

things  were  created  out  of  a  Substance,  which  is 
substance  in  itself,  for  this  is  the  real  Esse  [Being]  from 
which  all  things  that  are  can  exist :  and  as  God  alone  is 
Substance  in  itself,  and  thence  the  real  Esse,  it  is  evident 
that  the  existence  of  things  is  from  no  other  source." 
Angelic  Wisdom  concerning  Divine  Love,  par.  283. 

Again,  "  It  is  acknowledged  by  many,  that  there  is 
an  only  Substance,  which  is  also  the  first,  from  which 
all  things  are."  Ang.  Wis.  cone.  Divine  Providence, 
par.  6. 

Again :  "  Where  there  is  Esse  [Being]  there  is  also 
existere  [existence];  one  is  not  possible  without  the 


278  SWEDENBORG,  [Cn.  XII. 

other,  for  Esse  is  by  Existere,  and  not  without  it."  An- 
gelic Wisdom  concerning  Divine  Love,  par.  14. 

Again :  "  He  who  in  any  degree  of  thought  can  con- 
ceive and  comprehend  an  Esse  and  Existere  in  itself, 
will  perfectly  conceive  and  comprehend  that  such  Esse 
and  Existere  is  the  self -subsisting  and  sole-subsisting 
Being."  Ibid.  par.  45. 

Again :  "  As  things  all  and  each  are  forms,  it  must 
be  that  He  who  created  all  things  is  form  itself,  and 
that  from  form  itself  are  all  things  which  were  created 
in  forms  :  This  is  therefore  what  was  demonstrated  in 
the  treatise  comcerning  the  Divine  Love  and  Divine  Wis- 
dom, as,  That  the  Divine  Love  and  Divine  Wisdom 
is  Substance,  and  that  it  is  Form.'1'1  Angelic  Wisdom 
concerning  Divine  Providence,  par.  40 — 43. 

Again :  "  Who  does  not  from  reason  perceive  and 
acknowledge,  that  there  is  an  only  Essence,  from  which 
is  all  essence,  or  an  only  Being,  from  which  is  all  being  ? 
What  can  exist  without  being  ?  And  what  being  is  there 
from  which  is  all  being,  unless  there  is  Being  in  itself? 
And  what  is  being  itself  is  also  the  only  Being  and  Be- 
ing in  itself.  Since  it  is  so,  and  every  one  perceives 
and  acknowledges  this  from  reason,  and  if  not,  can  per- 
ceive and  acknowledge  it,  what  else  then  follows,  than 
that  this  Being,  which  is  the  Divine  itself,  which  is  Je- 
hovah, is  the  all  of  all  things  which  are  and  exist  ?  It 
is  the  like,  if  it  is  said  that  there  is  an  only  Substance, 
•from  which  all  things  are  /  and  because  a  Substance 
without  form  is  not  any  thing,  it  follows  also  that  there 
is  an  only  form,  from  which  all  things  are."  Ibid.  par. 
157. 


CH.  XII.]  A  HERMETIC   PHILOSOPHER.  279 

OF  GOD,  according  to  Spinoza. 

"  By  God,  I  understand  a  Being  absolutely  infinite  ; 
that  is,  a  Substance  consisting  of  infinite  attributes,  each 
one  of  which  expresses  infinite  and  eternal  essence." 
Ethics,  part  1,  def.  6. 

"  By  Substance,  I  understand  that  which  is  in  itself, 
and  which  is  conceived  by  itself :  or,  that,  the  conception 
of  which  does  not  need  the  conception  of  another  thing, 
from  which  it  must  be  formed."  Ibid,  def.  3. 

"  Existence  belongs  or  pertains  to  the  nature  of 
Substance."  Ibid.  prop.  7. 

"  No  Substance  can  be  conceived  except  God."  Ibid. 
prop.  14. 

"  Whatever  is,  is  in  God,  and  nothing  can  be,  or  be 
conceived  without  (out  of )  God."  Ibid.  prop.  15. 

"  The  Existence  of  God,  and  the  Essence  of  God 
are  one  and  the  same."  Ibid.  prop.  20. 

"  By  a  Self -Cause,  I  understand  that,  the  essence 
of  which  implies  or  involves  existence  ;  or,  that,  the  na- 
ture of  which  cannot  be  conceived  except  as  existing." 
Ibid.  def.  1. 

Let  us  now  see  the  similarity  of  the  two 
thinkers  on  the  subject  of  things,  i.  e.  modes. 

II.  MODES,  according  to  Swedenborg. 

"  With  respect  to  the  existence  of  things,  sound  phi- 
losophy teaches  us,  that  things  which  are  much  com- 
pounded take  their  origin  from  things  less  compounded ; 
the  less  compounded  from  things  still  less  so ;  these  from 
their  individual  substances  or  parts,  which  are  least  of 
all  limited  ;  and  these  again  from  things  simple,  in  which 


280  SWEDENBOKG,  [Cfl.  XII. 

no  limits  can  be  supposed,  except  one ;  from  which  cir- 
cumstance also  they  are  called  simples.  But  whence  is 
this  simple,  in  which  only  one  limit  is  to  be  conceived  ? 
And  whence  that  limit  ?  It  cannot  exist  by  itself ;  for 
there  must  be  something  by  which  it  may  exist,  if  it 
have  a  limit,  if  it  be  simple,  or  if  it  be  capable  of  giving 
origin  to  two  or  more  limits.  Extending  the  inquiry 
therefore,  by  the  same  philosophy  we  rationally  proceed 
to  the  conclusion,  that  such  a  simple  derives  its  exist- 
ence from  the  Infinite ;  but  that  the  Infinite  exists  of 
itself.  Again,  if  we  contemplate  the  successive  progres- 
sion of  causes,  it  will  be  found  highly  reasonable  to  con- 
clude, that  nothing  finite  can  exist  without  a  cause; 
that  things  which  are  much  compounded,  or  which  con- 
gist  of  many  individual  parts,  neither  could  be  compound- 
ed, nor  can  subsist,  without  a  cause,  by  which  they  were 
compounded,  and  by  which  they  may  consist :  for  a 
cause  always  precedes  and  afterwards  accompanies  that 
which  exists  from  it.  The  individual  parts  of  such  a 
composite  must  in  like  manner  be  compounded  of  and 
subsist  from  their  individual  parts  still  smaller;  and 
these  again,  by  the  order  of  their  succession,  from  things 
simple.  But  still  things  simple  can  neither  exist  nor 
subsist  from  themselves.  Wherefore  there  must  be  an 
Infinite  Something;  there  must  be  something  infinitely 
intelligent,  which  may  be  considered  both  as  a  cause  in 
itself,  and  at  the  same  time  as  an  operator  of  effects  out 
of  itself;  or  as  an  inherent  force,  and  at  the  same  time 
as  a  positive  agent ;  or  as  a  power  capable  of  producing, 
and  at  the  same  time  as  actually  producing  the  existence 
of  other  things.  It  follows,  therefore,  that  things  com- 
posite derive  their  origin  from  things  simple  /  things 


CH.  XIL]  A   HERMETIC   PHILOSOPHER.  281 

simple  from  the  Infinite  ;  and  the  Infinite  from  itself, 
as  being  the  sole  cause  of  itself  and  of  all  things.  It 
was  before  observed,  that  all  finite  things  came  into  ex- 
istence successively ;  for  nothing  can  be  at  once  such  as 
it  is  capable  of  becoming,  except  the  Infinite.  Every 
thing  finite  acknowledges,  or  is  indebted  to,  a  certain 
mode,  by  which  it  is  what  it  is,  and  nothing  else ;  a  mode, 
by  which  it  is  of  such  a  figure,  and  no  other ;  a  mode, 
by  which  it  occupies  such  a  space,  and  no  other.  In  a 
word,  all  things  are  modified ;  and  therefore  they  ac- 
knowledge a  mode  prior  to  their  modification,  and  ac- 
cording to  which  it  takes  its  place  :  they  acknowledge 
also  a  time,  in  which  they  were  so  modified.  Hence 
nothing  is  at  once  what  it  is  capable  of  becoming,  except 
the  Infinite.  All  finite  things  must  necessarily  under- 
go different  states  successively ;  but  not  so  the  Infinite. 
And  thus  we  perceive  that  all  things  out  of  the  Infi- 
nite have  their  modifications,  but  that  in  the  Infinite 
there  is  no  such  thing  as  a  mode  :  He  being  the  origi- 
nal cause  of  all  modifications."  Principia,  vol.  1,  p. 
47. 

MODES,  according  to  Spinoza. 

"  By  a  Mode,  I  understand  the  affections  of  a  Sub- 
stance, or  that,  which  is  in  another  thing  through  or  by 
means  of  which  other  thing  it  is  conceived.  Ethics,  part 
1,  def.  5. 

Observe,  that  Swedenborg  has  said  of  Simples,  out 
of  which  Compounds  are  made,  that  they  cannot  exist 
by  themselves ;  i.  e.  as  Spinoza  expresses  it,  they  must 
be  conceived  as  existing  in  something  else,  which  some- 
thing else  is  in  itself,  &c. 

Again  (Spinoza  says), "  I  understand  by  Body,  a  mode 


282  SWEDENBOKG,  [Cn.  XII. 

by  which  the  essence  of  God,  in  so  far  as  he  is  consid- 
ered as  Extension  (res  extensa,  an  extended  thing),  is 
expressed  in  a  certain  and  determined  manner  or  mode." 
Ibid,  part  2,  def.  1. 

Again.  "  Particular  things  are  nothing  but  affec- 
tions of  the  attributes  of  God,  or  modes  in  which  the 
attributes  of  God  are  expressed  in  a  certain  and  deter- 
minate manner."  Ibid,  part  1,  corol.  to  prop.  25. 

Again.  "  The  Essence  of  things  produced  by  God 
does  not  involve  existence."  Ibid,  part  1,  prop.  24. 

Again.  "  There  must  be  a  certain  cause  of  the  exist- 
ence of  each  thing  which  exists.  *  *  *  It  must  be 
concluded  absolutely  (universally)  that,  every  thing  ac- 
cording to  whose  nature  many  individuals  may  exist, 
must  necessarily  have  an  external  cause  of  such  exist- 
ence." Schol.  prop.  8,  part  1. 

Hence,  in  the  Ethics  of  Spinoza,  man  and  all 
things  in  nature  are  considered  as  not  having  in 
themselves  necessary  existence ;  but  they  are  re- 
garded as  modes,  things  existing  in  another  thing, 
i.  e.  affections  of  the  attributes  of  God,  existing 
only  in  God. 


Let  us  now  notice  what  each  of  these  extra- 
ordinary thinkers  has  to  say  of  our  knowledge, 
and  it  will  be  seen  that  each  of  them  point  out 
three  different  sources  or  kinds  of  knowledge, 
and  that  the  two  authors  harmonize  in  a  most 
remarkable  manner. 


CH.  X.]  A  HERMETIC  PHILOSOPHER.  283 

III.  OF  KINDS  OF  KNOWLEDGE,  according  to 
Swedenborg. 

"  Moreover,  it  should  be  known  that  there  are  three 
degrees  of  Love  and  Wisdom,  and  thence  three  degrees 
of  Life,  and  that  the  human  mind,  according  to  these 
degrees,  is  formed  as  it  were  into  regions,  and  that  life 
in  the  highest  region  is  in  the  highest  degree,  and  in  the 
second  region  in  a  lower  degree,  and  in  the  last  region 
in  the  lowest  degree.  These  regions  are  successively 
opened  in  man ;  the  last  region,  where  life  is  in  the  low- 
est degree,  is  opened  from  infancy  to  childhood,  and  this 
is  done  by  the  senses.  The  second  region,  where  life  is 
in  a  higher  degree,  from  childhood  to  youth,  and  this  is 
done  by  knowledges  from  the  sciences ;  and  the  highest 
region,  where  life  is  in  the  highest  degree,  from  youth  to 
manhood  and  onwards,  and  this  is  done  by  the  perception 
of  truths,  both  moral  and  spiritual.  It  should  be  further 
known,  that  the  perfection  of  life  consists  not  in  thought, 
but  in  the  perception  of  truth  from  the  light  of  truth ; 
the  differences  of  the  life  with  men  may  be  thence  ascer- 
tained ;  for  there  are  some  who,  as  soon  as  they  hear  the 
truth,  perceive  that  it  is  truth.  [This  is  Spinoza's  third 
kind  of  knowledge.]  There  are  others  who  do  not  per- 
ceive truth,  but  conclude  it  from  confirmations  by  ap- 
pearances. [To  conclude  or  infer  a  truth,  means  to 
reason  out  a  truth,  and  this  is  Spinoza's  second  kind  of 
knowledge.]  There  are  others  who  believe  a  thing  to 
be  true,  because  it  was  asserted  by  a  man  of  authority." 
[And  this  last  answers  to  Spinoza's  first  kind  of  knowl- 
edge, which  he  afterwards  shows  to  be  the  source  of 
error  and  falsehood,  because  things  are  seen  in  their  ap- 
parent order  in  nature,  in  which  their  true  causes  do  not 


284  SWEDENBOKG,  [On.  XII. 

appear;  these  being  only  seen  by  the  third  kind  of 
knowledge,  in  the  intellect.  And  in  this  too,  the  two 
thinkers  agree,  Swedenborg  attributing  error  to  seeing 
or  judging  of  things  from  appearances  as  effects,  and  not 
seeing  them  in  their  causes — as  we  shall  see  presently.] 
True  Christian  Religion,  page  37. 

Or  KINDS  OF  KNOWLEDGE,  according  to  Spi- 
noza. 

"  We  perceive  many  things  and  form  universal  no- 
tions from  single  things  represented  to  us  through  the 
senses,  mutilated,  confused,  and  without  relation  to  the 
intellect :  and  also  from  signs ;  for  example,  reading  or 
hearing  certain  words,  we  call  things  to  mind,  and  form 
certain  ideas  of  them  like  those,  by  which  we  imagine 
things.  These  I  will  in  future  call  knowledge  of  the 
first  kind.  [Swedenborg's  lowest  degree.]  Secondly, 
we  form  them  from  our  having  universal  notions  and 
adequate  ideas  of  the  properties  of  things,  and  this  I  call 
reason  and  knowledge  of  the  second  kind.  [This  is 
Swedenborg's  second  degree.]  Besides  these  two  kinds 
of  knowledges,  there  is  a  third,  as  I  will  show  in  the  se- 
quel, which  we  will  call  intuitive  knowledge.  And  this 
kind  of  knowing  proceeds  (or  descends)  from  the  ade- 
quate idea  of  the  formal  essence  of  certain  attributes  of 
God  to  an  adequate  knowledge  of  the  essence  of  things." 
[This  is  Swedenborg's  highest  degree.] 

Both,  writers  make  very  great  use  of  the  dis- 
tinctions above  set  forth,  of  which,  one  or  two 
examples  may  suffice.  The  above  extract  is 
from  the  Ethics,  part  2,  scholium  2,  prop.  40. 


CH.  Xn.]  A   HERMETIC   PHILOSOPHER.  285 

1Y.  OF  THE  DIFFERENCE  OF  SEEING  THINGS  IN 
THEIR  EFFECTS  AND  IN  THEIR  CAUSES,  according  to 

Swedenborg. 

Explaining  his  reasons  for  treating  certain  matters 
as  he  has,  Swedenborg  says,  "  To  treat  of  them  other- 
wise than  from  their  original  source,  would  be  to  treat 
from  effects  and  not  from  causes ;  and  yet  effects  teach 
nothing  but  effects,  and  when  they  are  considered  alone, 
they  do  not  explain  a  single  cause  ;  but  causes  explain 
effects  /  and  to  know  effects  from  causes  is  to  be  wise  ; 
but  to  inquire  into  causes  from  effects  is  not  to  be  wise  : 
because  then  fallacies  present  themselves,  which  the 
examiner  calls  causes,  and  this  is  confounding  wisdom." 
Angelic  Wisdom  concerning  Divine  Love,  par.  119. 

On  this  point,  Spinoza,  in  the  4th  axiom  to 
the  first  Part  of  the  Ethics,  states  his  doctrine, 
that,  "  the  knowledge  of  an  effect  depends  upon 
(or  is  involved  in)  a  knowledge  of  its  cause." 

V.  OF  THE  INTUITIVE  KNOWLEDGE,  (or  highest 
degree,)  according  to  Swedenborg. 

"  There  are  two  things  proper  to  nature,  space  and 
time.  From  these  in  the  natural  world  man  forms  the 
ideas  of  his  thought,  and  thence  his  understanding.  If 
he  remains  in  these  ideas,  and  does  not  elevate  his  mind 
above  them,  he  never  can  perceive  any  thing  spiritual 
or  divine ;  for  he  involves  it  in  ideas  which  he  derives 
from  space  and  time,  and  in  proportion  as  he  does  this, 
the  light  of  his  understanding  is  merely  natural.  Think- 
ing from  this  merely  natural  light,  in  reasoning  of  things 


286  SWEDENBOKG,  [Cn.  XII. 

spiritual  and  divine,  is  like  thinking  from  the  darkness 
of  night  of  those  things  which  only  appear  in  the  light 
of  day ;  hence  comes  naturalism.  But  he  that  knows 
how  to  elevate  his  mind  above  the  ideas  of  thought 
which  partake  of  space  and  time,  passes  from  dark- 
ness to  light,  and  becomes  wise  in  spiritual  and  divine 
things.  Ibid.  par.  69. 

OF  INTUITIVE  KNOWLEDGE,  according  to  tlio 
Ethics. 

Spinoza,  in  the  Ethics,  after  stating  the  three 
kinds  of  cognition  (knowing),  i.  e.,  1st,  from  the 
senses :  2d,  from  reasoning :  3d,  from  intuition, 
states  the  proposition,  that  the  third  kind  of 
knowing  (corresponding  to  Swedenborg's  spirit- 
ual knowledge)  cannot  possibly  arise  from  the 
first  kind  of  knowledge ;  and  in  various  places 
throughout  the  Ethics  sets  forth  the  same  doc- 
trine; while  in  his  Tract  on  Theology,  treating 
of  the  Divine  Law,  chap.  4,  he  has  the  following 
passage,  referring  to  the  impossibility  of  the 
natural  man's  knowing  the  things  of  the  spirit. 

"  These  things  cannot  but  be  unintelligible  to  a  car- 
nal man,  and  must  seem  vain  and  unsubstantial  to  him 
in  consequence  of  his  meagre  (jejune)  conceptions  of 
God;  and  because  in  this  highest  good,  consisting 
solely  in  contemplation  and  pure  mind,  he  can  find 
nothing  to  touch  or  eat,  or  which  in  any  way  affects 
the  bodily  senses,  wherein  he  takes  his  chief  delight. 
But  they  must  be  the  most  substantial  of  all  things  to 


CH.  XII.]  A   HERMETIC  PHILOSOPHER.  287 

those  who  know  that  there  is  nothing  more  excellent 
than  reason  and  a  sound  mind."  [By  reason,  is  not 
meant  here  the  faculty  of  reasoning  (argument),  but 
that  element  or  principle  in  man,  by  which  he  is  man, 
and  without  which  he  would  not  be  at  all — in  short 
the  divine  in  man ;  which,  as  both  Swedenborg  and 
Spinoza  agree,  is  from  God.] 

The  admirers  of  Coleridge  will  readily  see, 
above,  the  grounds  of  the  doctrine  so  zealously 
set  forth  by  him,  i.  e.  the  distinction  between  the 
understanding  and  the  reason;  all  knowledge 
depending  upon  the  first  being  uncertain  and 
unstable,  while  through  the  reason,  according  to 
this  doctrine,  knowledge  is  absolute,  and  admits 
of  no  appeal. 

We  have  now  seen  how  nearly  similar  these 
two  thinkers  are  in  their  doctrines  of  God,  of 
things,  of  the  different  kinds  of  knowledge,  and 
of  the  impossibility  of  the  natural  ma/ri?8  know- 
ing the  things  of  the  spirit.  We  will  next  pass 
to  a  vital  point,  to  which  particular  attention  is 
invited,  namely,  their  doctrine  of  Salvation. 

It  is  important  to  observe,  that  the  language 
of  Swedenborg,  soon  to  follow,  has  a  very  dis- 
tinct signification,  where  he  distinguishes  the 
wish  of  one  to  make  another  happy  "  from"  him- 
self; the  idea  being,  to  make  another  happy 
with  a  total  disregard  of  one's  own  happiness ; 


288  8WEDENBOKG,  [CH.  XII. 

this  being  the  test  of  a  true  love,  independent  of 
consequences. 

VI.  OF  SALVATION,  according  to  Swedenborg. 

"  The  third  essential  of  the  love  of  God,  ivhich  is  to 
make  them  happy  from  itself,  is  acknowledged  from 
eternal  life,  which  is  blessedness,  happiness,  and  felici- 
ty without  end,  which  God  gives  to  those  who  receive 
his  love  in  themselves  ;  for  God,  as  he  is  Love  itself, 
is  also  blessedness  itself;  for  every  Love  breathes  forth 
from  itself  a  delight,  and  the  Divine  Love  breathes 
forth  blessedness  itself,  happiness  and  felicity  to  eter- 
nity. Thus  God  makes  angels  happy  from  himself, 
and  also  men  after  death,  which  is  effected  by  conjunc- 
tion with  them."  True  Chrn.  Eelig.  p.  38. 

And  again,  at  page  262,  same  work,  is  the 
following : 

"  If  therefore  man  becomes  rational-spiritual,  and 
at  the  same  time  moral-spiritual,  he  is  conjoined  to  Godt 
and  by  conjunction  has  salvation  and  eternal  life." 

OF  SALVATION,  according  to  Spinoza. 

"  Our  intellectual  love  of  God  is  the  same  love  with 
which  God  loves  himself;  not,  as  he  is  infinite,  but  in 
so  far  as  he  can  be  explained  (or  represented)  by  the 
essence  of  the  human  mind,  regarded  under  the  form 
of  eternity ;  or  in  other  words,  the  intellectual  love  of 
the  mind  for  God,  is  a  part  of  the  infinite  love  with 
which  God  loves  himself.  Hence  it  follows  that,  in  so 
far  as  God  loves  himself,  he  loves  men  or  mankind, 
and  consequently,  that  the  love  of  God  for  men,  and 


CH.  XII.]  A   HERMETIC   PHILOSOPHER.  289 

the  intellectual  love  of  the  mind  for  God,  are  one  and 
the  same  thing."  [  This  is  the  Conjunction  of  Sweden- 
borg.]  "  We  see  clearly  now  wherein  consists  our 
salvation  or  happiness  (bliss  or  blessedness),  or  in 
other  words,  our  liberty  (or  freedom),  to  wit,  in  a  con- 
stant and  eternal  love  for  God,  or,  in  the  love  of  God 
for  men,  (God's  love  of  us ;)  and  the  sacred  scriptures 
have  not  without  reason  given  to  this  love  the  name  of 
glory."  Ethics,  part  5,  prop.  36. 

The  brevity  of  these  last  extracts  must  pre- 
sent the  doctrine  of  salvation  in  some  degree 
obscurely,  there  being,  especially  in  the  Ethics, 
very  many  propositions  necessary  to  its  full  ex- 
position ;  but  a  similitude  will  hardly  fail  to  be 
seen  in  the  above  extracts. 

Here  are  certainly  shown  very  remarkable 
points  of  contact  between  these  men,  on  the  most 
essential  doctrines,  of  God,  of  Knowledge,  and 
of  Salvation,  sufficient  to  excite  curiosity  at  least, 
if  not  astonishment,  considering  the  fate,  thus 
far,  of  the  two  men :  and  as  these  are  all  impor- 
tant doctrines,  necessarily  having  an  influence  over 
those  who  hold  them,  it  might  be  expected  that  a 
likeness  should  also  appear  in  other  portions  of 
the  works  of  these  men.  I  am  now  to  show  that 
this  is  the  case  in  some  remarkable  particulars ; 
in  doing  which  there  will  be  some  further  con- 
firmations of  what  has  already  been  adduced. 
13 


290  SWEDENBORG,  [Cn.  XII. 

VII.  Swedenborg.     "  The  Esse  of  God,  or  the  Di- 
vine  Esse,  cannot  be   described,  because   it  is   above 
every   idea   of  human    thought,   into   which    [human 
thought]   nothing  else  falls  than  what  is  created  and 
finite,  but  not  what  is  uncreate  and  infinite ;  thus  not 
the  Divine  Esse."     True  Chn.  Relig.  page  16. 

Spinoza,  treating  of  God,  says,  "  If  any  one  should 
ask  me  to  give  an  example  for  the  full  explication  of 
what  is  here  intended,  I  must  reply,  that  no  instance 
can  adequately  explain  what  is  in  itself  unique.'1'1  Ethics, 
part  2,  prop.  8,  schol. 

VIII.  /Swedenborg.     "  The  Divine  Esse  is  esse  in 
itself,  and  at  the  same  time  existere  (existence)  in  it- 
self." True  0.  E.  page  16. 

Spinoza.  "  Existence  belongs  or  pertains  to  the  na- 
ture of  a  substance."  Ethics,  part  1,  prop  7. 

IX.  Swedenborg.    "  The  Divine  Esse  and  Existere 
in  itself  cannot  produce  another  divine,  that  is  esse  and 
existere   in   itself:  consequently   another   God   of  the 
same  essence  is  not  possible."     T.  G.  M.  p.  16. 

Spinoza.  "  One  substance  cannot  produce  another 
substance."  Ethics,  part  1,  prop.  6. — And  the  conclu- 
sion of  the  demonstration  is,  that  "  there  cannot  be 
many  substances,  but  only  one."  And  prop.  14  is,  that 
"  No  substance  can  be  conceived  except  God." 

The  above  I  note  as  remarkable. 

X.  Swedenborg.  "  In  relation  to  subsistence,  all  fi- 
nite things,  produced  in  the  way  here  described,  [i.  e. 
from  the  Infinite,]  do  actually  subsist  from  the  same 
cause  and  mode,  which  brought  them  into  existence." 
Principia,  page  54. 


CH.  XIL]  A  HERMETIC  PHILOSOPHER.  291 

Spinoza.  "  God  is  not  only  the  cause  of  the  begin- 
ning of  the  existence  of  things,  but  of  their  continuance 
in  existence."  Ethics,  part  1,  prop.  24,  coroL 

XI.  Swedenborg.    "  Jehovah   God  is  esse  in  itself 
*     *     *     beginning   and   end,    &c,   from   eternity   to 
eternity."  T.  C.  R.  p.  17. 

Spinoza.  "  Substance  is  that  which  is  in  itself,  and 
is  conceived  by  itself."  Ethics,  part  1,  def.  3.  And 
"  whatever  is  is  in  God."  Prop.  15.  And  "  God  is 
eternal."  Prop.  19. 

XII.  Swedenborg.  "  The  unity  of  God  is  most  in- 
timately inscribed  on  the  mind  of  every  man."  T.  C.  It. 
page  20. 

Spinoza.  "  The  human  mind  has  an  adequate  know- 
ledge of  the  eternal  and  infinite  nature  of  God."  Ethics, 
part  2.  prop.  47. 

XIII.  Swedenborg.  "  That  the  infinite  divine  is  in 
man,  as  in  its  images,  is  evident  from  the  word  where 
this  is  read,"  &c.     T.  C.  £.  p.  29. 

Spinoza.  "  Hence  it  follows  that  the  mind  of  man 
is  a  part  of  the  infinite  intellect  of  God."  Ethics,  part 
2,  prop.  11,  coroll. 

XIV.  Swedenborg.   "  In  him  (man)  the  soul  is  not 
life,  but  a  recipient  of  life.     *     *     Life  in  himself  is 
God.     *     *     *     The  Divine  Esse,  because  it  is  One, 
the  same,  the  Itself,  and  thence  indivisible,  cannot  be 
in  several."  T.  G.  S.  page  22. 

Spinoza.  "The  Being  (Esse)  of  Substance  (God) 
does  not  belong  to  the  essence  of  man,  or,  does  not 
constitute  the  form  of  man."  Ethics,  part  2,  prop.  10. 
And  "  the  absolutely  infinite  Substance  is  indivisible." 
Part  1,  prop.  13.  And  "  Every  thing  according  to 


SWEDENBOEG,  [On.  XII. 

whose  nature  many  individuals  may  exist,  must  neces- 
sarily have  an  external  cause,"  [i.  e.  man  has  not  life 
in  himself.]  Part  1,  prop.  8,  schol. 

XV.  Swedenborg.   "  Wherefore  infinite  is  an  adjec- 
tive, belonging  to  the  essentials  and  attributes  of  God, 
all  of  which  are  called  infinite."     T.  G.  E.  page  33. 

Spinoza.  The  Ethics  speaks  of  the  attributes  of 
God  as  infinite,  but  only  in  their  own  kind;  thus, 
thought  is  infinite  thought,  but  is  not  infinite  exten- 
sion ;  and  again,  extension  is  infinite  extension,  but  is 
not  infinite  thought.  While  God  is  the  absolutely  in- 
finite Being. 

XVI.  Swedenborg.  "  Every  one  should  prepare-  the 
way  for  God,  that  is,  should  prepare  himself  for  recep- 
tion ;  and   this   should  be   done  by   means  of  knowl- 
edges."    T.  C.  E.  page  20. 

Spinoza.  "  The  highest  effort  (aim  or  striving)  of 
the  mind,  and  its  supreme  or  greatest  virtue,  is  to  know 
God  by  the  third  kind  of  knowledge."  Ethics,  part  5, 
prop.  25.  See  No.  III. 

XVII.  Swedenborg.  "  Every  quality  has  its  quality 
from  that  which  is  the  itself  from  which  it  is  [derived], 
and  to  which  it  refers  itself  [as  to  its  cause]  that  it 
may  be  such."     T.  C.  £.  page  21. 

Spinoza.  "  The  power  of  an  effect  is  defined  by  the 
power  of  its  cause,  in  so  far  as  the  essence  of  the  effect 
is  explained  by  the  essence  [the  itself]  of  the  cause." 
Ethics,  part  5,  ax.  2. 

XVIII.  Swedenborg.  "  Wherefore  the   Lord  says, 
that  He  is  in  the  midst  of  them :  also,   that  He  is  in 
them  and  they  in  Him."     T.  G.  E.  page  21. 

Spinoza.  "  Our  mind  in  so  far  as  it  knows  itself 


CH.  XII.]  A   HEKMETIC   PHILOSOPHER.  293 

and  the  body  under  the  form  of  eternity,  possesses  ne- 
cessarily the  knowledge  of  God,  and  knows  that  it  is  in 
God,  and  is  conceived  by  (or  through)  God."  Ethics, 
part  5,  prop.  30. 

XIX.  Swederiborg.  "  *     *     and  yet  the  substantial 
and  material  things  in  the  universe,  considered  individ- 
ually, are  infinite  in  number."     T.  G.  R.  page  26. 

Spinoza,  "  There  must  be  infinite  things  in  infinite 
modes  in  nature."  Ethics,  part  1,  prop.  16. 

XX.  Swedenborg.  u*     *    the  life  to  eternity,  which 
every  man  has  after  death,  is  not  communicable  but  from 
an  eternal  God."     T.  G.  B.  page  27. 

Spinoza.  "  The  human  mind  cannot  be  entirely 
destroyed  with  the  body,  but  something  remains  of  it, 
which  is  eternal."  Ethics,  part  5,  prop.  23.  And  the 
demonstration  connects  this  portion  with  God  as  the 
cause. 

XXI. .Swedenborg.  "Let  every  one  therefore  be 
cautious  how  he  persuades  himself  that  he  lives  from 
himself;  and  also  that  he  is  wise,  believes,  loves,  per- 
ceives truth,  and  wills  and  does  good  from  himself." 
T.  G.  JR.  page  36. 

Spinoza.  "  There  is  no  absolute  or  free  will  in  the 
mind ;  and  it  may  be  demonstrated  that  the  mind  has 
no  absolute  faculty  of  understanding,  desiring,  loving." 
&c.  Ethics,  part  2,  prop.  48,  schol. 

It  is  proper  to  remark  here,  that  although  both 
writers  deny  the  freedom  of  the  will  of  man,  as  of 
himself,  yet  the  two  writers  do  not  hold  to  the  doc- 
trine in  the  same  manner.  Spinoza  adhered  strictly 
to  this  doctrine,  and  gave  a  reason  for  the  gen- 


SWEDENBORO,  [Cn.  XII. 

eral  prevalence  of  the  opinion  that  man  is  free, 
saying  that  man  thinks  himself  free  because  lie  is 
conscious  of  his  desires,  but  not  conscious  of  the 
causes  that  impel  him  to  desire.  Yet  Spinoza 
contends  for  a  certain  freedom  in  man,  when  he 
acts  from  what  he  calls  adequate  ideas,  which  he 
says  are  in  God  and  in  man  at  the  same  time ; 
and  it  comes  to  this,  that  the  freedom  of  man 
arises  from  his  knowledge  of  God,  which  Spinoza 
calls  the  power  of  reason,  to  the  elucidation  of 
which  he  devotes  Part  Fourth  of  his  Ethics. 
Man  is  free  in  obeying  God  knowingly,  and  no 
otherwise. 

Swedenborg  theoretically  denies  the  freedom 
of  the  will  as  completely  as  Spinoza,  as  must  be 
seen  above ;  yet  he  cannot  do  without  it  in  his 
system.  He  adopts,  however,  extraordinary  lan- 
guage for  a  philosopher  in  reference  to  it,  saying 
that,  although  man  is  not  free  as  of  himself,  yet 
he  must  act  "as  if"  he  was  free,  while  he  must 
"  know  "  that  "  all  freedom  is  from  the  Lord." 

It  must  be  confessed  that  Swedenborg  gives 
us  no  light  on  this  question.  If  he  saw  the  truth 
himself,  he  has  not  been  able  to  explain  it,  and 
on  this  long  disputed  question  he  leaves  his  reader 
where  he  finds  him, — unless  the  student  of  Swe- 
denborg may  "  fancy  "  he  knows  what  he  does 


CH.  XII.]  A  HERMETIC   PHILOSOPHER.  295 

not  know  at  all ; — I  mean,  as  a  result  of  Sweden- 
borg's  teachings. 

Without  assuming  to  solve  this  controverted 
question  myself,  I  will  remark  that  the  chief  dif- 
ficulty seems  to  arise,  not  from  a  "  pre-established 
harmony  "  in  the  ideas  we  have  of  God  and  man, 
but  from  preconceived  ideas  irreconcilable  with 
each  other ;  which  ought  to  satisfy  us  that  one 
set  of  them,  at  least,  cannot  be  true.  To  main- 
tain the  idea  of  God's  omnipotence  in  the  usual 
sense,  and  of  the  eternity  and  immutability  of  his 
[  decrees,  as  extending  to  all  things,  and,  at  the 

same  time,  the  notion  of  man's  free  agency,  as  if 
he  possessed  an  actual  power  of  his  own,  is  im- 
possible. Whoever  holds  these  two  opinions 
must  necessarily  carry  about  a  conflict  within 
himself.  One  or  both  sets  of  ideas  should  be  pu- 
rified,  in  order  to  introduce  harmony.  If  the 
Philosopher's  Stone  could  solve  this  one  question, 
it  might  be  worth  seeking,  if  for  nothing  else. 
Let  the  power  of  God — I  say  it  reverently — be 
called  sulphur,  and  the  power  of  man  mercury : 
then  find  a  salt  that  shall  be  their  unity.  This  is 
the  problem. 

The  student  of  this  problem  need  not  go  out 
of  himself,  to  find  the  root  of  the  controversy  be- 
tween necessity  and  freedom,  and  may  be  able  to 


296  SWEDENBOKG,  [00.  XII. 

understand  the  principal  question  between  Au- 
gustine and  Pelagius,  between  Calvin  and  Ar- 
minius,  and  between  the  "  Old  School  "  and  the 
"New  School"  of  more  recent  times.  He  may 
find  that  the  controversy  lies  between  two  of  the 
elements  or  principles  of  man,  and  must  last  until 
the  third  principle  becomes  recognized,  which, 
though  last  discovered,  is  first  in  order,  and  stands 
above,  as  it  were,  the  other  two,  and,  though  it 
decides,  it  takes  no  part  in  the  controversy.  This 
third  principle,  when  awakened  in  man,  consti- 
tutes Swedenborg's  Celestial  State ;  that  is,  in 
this  state  man  is  an  angel,  and  no  longer  "  opines  " 
about  things,  but  "  knows."  This  I  understand 
to  be  Swedenborg's  view,  and  it  does  not  differ 
essentially  from  that  of  Spinoza, — that  which  is 
said  by  one  of  reason,  being  said  by  the  other  of 
the  spiritual  in  man. 

But  to  return  to  the  parallels : 

XXII.  Swedenborg.  "It  is  to  be  held  that  all 
things  in  the  universe  were  created  in  their  orders,  so 
that  they  may  subsist  each  one  by  itself,  and  that  from 
the  beginning  they  were  so  created,  that  they  may  con- 
join themselves  with  the  universal  order,  to  the  intent 
that  each  particular  order  may  subsist  in  the  universal, 
and  thus  make  one."  T.  C.  JR.  page  47. 

Spinoza.  "  *  *  *  and  if  we  thus  go  on  ad  in- 
_finitumt  we  may  easily  conceive  that  all  nature  is  one 


CH.  XII.]  A  HERMETIC   PHILOSOPHER.  297 

Individual,  whose  parts  (that  is  to  say,  all  bodies)  vary 
in  infinite  modes,  without  any  change  in  the  total  In- 
dividual :  "  [i.  e.  all  bodies  make  one.]  Ethics,  part  2, 
lemma  7  after  prop.  13. 

The  doctrine  at  page  57  of  the  True  Christian 
Keligion,  of  God  being  "  order  itself,"  and  that 
the  "  laws  of  order  are  myriads,"  and  that  "  God 
cannot  act  contrary  to  them,"  is  precisely  Spino- 
za's doctrine,  as  may  be  seen  in  many  places. 
The  doctrine  is  argued  at  length  in  the  Ethics, 
part  1,  prop.  17,  schol. :  the  proposition  being, 
that  "  God  acts  by  the  mere  laws  of  his  own  na- 
ture, and  is  not  necessitated." 

As  a  further  illustration  of  this  point,  I  add  the  fol- 
lowing from  Swedenborg.  "  Those  who  do  not  under- 
stand the  Divine  Omnipotence,  may  imagine  either  that 
there  is  no  order,  or  that  God  can  do  contrary  to  order, 
as  well  as  according  to  it,  when  yet,  without  order,  there 
could  be  no  creation.  *  *  *  Yea,  God  himself  can- 
not do  contrary  to  his  own  divine  order,  since  this  would 
be  to  do  contrary  to  himself."  p.  347. 

The  corresponding  passage  to  this  in  the  Ethics,  is 
in  the  2d  schol.  to  prop.  33,  part  1,  where  Spinoza  says, 
"  It  clearly  follows  from  the  preceding  propositions,  that 
things  have  been  produced  in  the  greatest  perfection  by 
God ;  seeing,  indeed,  that  they  have  followed  necessari- 
ly from  His  most  perfect  nature.  Nor  does  this  opinion 
argue  any  imperfection  in  God ;  for  it  is  his  very  perfec- 
tion which  has  compelled  us  to  affirm  it.  Nay,  it  follows 
from  the  contrary  opinion,  that  God  is  not  wholly  perfect ; 
13* 


298  8WEDENBORG,  [On.  XII. 

for  if  things  could  have  been  produced  in  any  other  mode, 
we  must  attribute  to  God  another  nature,  different  from 
that  which  we  have  been  compelled  to  attribute  to  Him, 
from  the  consideration  of  the  most  perfect  Being  (Ens.)" 

And  further,  in  the  same  scholi.  Spinoza  re- 
marks, that  the  supposition  that  God  could  create 
tilings  otherwise  than  according  to  order,  would 
imply  that  God  could  change  his  own  decrees, 
while  all  agree  that  God's  decrees  are  unchange- 
able. 

XXIII.  Swederiborg.     "  It  is  at  this  day  a  pre- 
vailing opinion  that  the  omnipotence  of  God  is  like  the 
absolute  power  of  a  king  in  the  world,  who  can  at  his 
pleasure  do  what  he  wills,"  &c.  [and  this  opinion  Swe- 
denborg  very  severely  condemns.]     T.  G.  JR.  page  48. 

Spinoza.  "  The  vulgar  understand  by  the  omnipo- 
tence of  God,  the  free  will  of  God,  and  his  right  or  au- 
thority over  all  things  which  exist,  and  which  are  there- 
fore generally  regarded  as  contingent.  Moreover,  they 
often  compare  the  powerof  God  with  the  power  of  kings. 
But  we  have  refuted  this  in  Corollaries,  1st  and  2d, 
prop.  32,  part  1." 

Here  it  will  be  seen  that  the  same  illustration 
is  taken  by  each  writer,  and  the  popular  opinion 
equally  condemned. 

XXIV.  Swedenborg's  doctrine  of  space  and  time  is 
the  same  with  that  of  Spinoza.  Each  author  denies  that 
these  terms  apply  to  God.     "  The  sun  itself,"  says  Swe- 
denborg,  "  would  be  near  the  eye  unless  intermediate 
objects  discovered  that  it  is  so  distant ;  "  and  Spinoza, 


CH.  XII.]  A  HERMETIC   PHILOSOPHER.  299 

in  the  schol.  to  prop.  35,  part  2,  had  already  taken  the 
same  example,  the  sun,  to  illustrate  the  same  princi- 
ple. 

XXV.  Swedenborg.     "  *     *     *     They    acknowl- 
edged that  there  is  a  God,  and  that  nature  was  created 
to  be  subservient  to  the  Life  which  was  from  God  ;  and 
that  nature  in  itself  was  dead,  and  that  thus,  it  does 
nothing  from  itself,  but  is  actuated  by  Life,"  [i.  e.  by 
God.]     True  C.  E.  page  65. 

Spinoza.  "  A  thing  which  has  been  determined  (mo- 
ved) to  act  has  necessarily  been  so  determined  by  God, 
and  what  is  not  determined  to  act  by  God  cannot  deter- 
mine itself."  Ethics,  prop.  26,  part  1. 

Spinoza  makes  a  distinction  between  nature 
active  and  nature  passive.  The  first  is  nature  re- 
garded as  absolute,  and  is  always  active ;  the 
second  regards  nature  as  relative,  in  which  sense 
one  thing  is  acted  upon  by  another.  Every  sin- 
gle thing  partakes  of  each  ;  it  has  a  certain  pow- 
er of  action,  but  from  the  active  power  of  other 
things  it  may  be  acted  upon.  But  God  is  regard- 
ed as  the  really  acting  cause  in  both  cases,  or  as 
the  only  activity. 

XXVI.  Swedenborg.     "  Now,  because  the  Word  is 
such,  appearances  of  truth,  which  are  truths  clothed, 
may  be    taken     for    naked  truths,  which,   when  they 
are  confirmed,  [by  reasonings  founded  on  the  mere  ap- 
pearances of  things  as  presented  to  the  senses,]  become 
fallacies,  which  in  themselves  are  falses.     From  this, 
that  appearances  of  truth  may  be  taken  for  naked  truths 


300  SWEDENBORG,  [CH.  XII. 


and  confirmed,  have  sprung  all  the  heresies  which  have 
been,  and  still  are,  in  the  Christian  world.  Heresies 
themselves  do  not  condemn  men  ;  but  confirmations  of 
the  falsities,  which  are  in  a  heresy,  from  the  Word,  and  by 
reasonings  from  the  natural  man  and  an  evil  life,  do  con- 
demn." T.  G.  E.  p.  192. 

Spinoza.  "  But  the  reason  why  men  have  not  an 
equally  clear  knowledge  of  Grod  and  of  common  notions 
is,  they  cannot  imagine  Grod  as  they  do  bodies,  and  they 
have  connected  the  name  of  God  with  images  of  things 
which  they  are  in  the  habit  of  seeing ;  [which  last,  ac- 
cording to  both  Swedenborg  and  Spinoza,  are  only  ap- 
pearances of  truth,]  and  this  is  the  origin  of  most  con- 
troversies, that  men  either  do  not  correctly  express  their 
own  meaning,  or  do  not  correctly  interpret  the  meaning 
of  others.  *  *  *  I  wish  you  to  remark,  that  the 
imaginations  of  the  mind,  regarded  in  themselves,  con- 
tain no  error;  or,  the  mind  does  not  therefore  err  because 
it  imagines ;  but  only  inasmuch  as  it  is  without  an  idea 
which  precludes  the  existence  of  those  things  which  it 
imagines  to  be  present.  For  if  the  mind,  when  it  is  im- 
agining non-existing  things  as  present  to  itself,  knows 
at  the  same  time  that  the  things  do  not  exist,  it  will  cer- 
tianly  attribute  this  power  of  imagining,  not  to  any  de- 
fect, but  to  the  action  (power)  of  its  own  nature."  JEth. 
part.  4,  props.  17,  47,  &  schol. 

XXVII.  Swedenborg.  "  But  bare  knowledge  on- 
ly enters  the  understanding,  and  this  has  not  any  author- 
ity over  the  will,  and  so  is  not  in  man  otherwise  than 
as  one  who  stands  in  the  entry,  or  at  the  door,  and  not 
as  yet  in  the  house."  T.  G.  -R.  page  193,  also  p.  397. 

Spinoza.     "  The  true  knowledge  of  good  and  evil 


CH.  XII.]  A  HERMETIC   PHILOSOPHER.  301 

cannot,  as  truth,  [i.  e.  as  "  bare  knowledge  "]  restrain 
any  affection,  but  only  in  so  far  as  as  it  is  itself  consid- 
ered as  an  affection."  Ethics,  part  4,  prop.  14. 

XXVIII.  Swedenborg.  "  There  is  not  any  thing 
in  the  mind,  to  which  something  in  the  body  does  not 
correspond ;  and  this  which  corresponds  may  be  called 
the  embodying  of  that."  T.  G.  E.  page  267. 

This  is  a  very  important  proposition  in  Swe- 
denborg's  works,  and  it  has  a  remarkable  parallel 
in  Spinoza ;  but  to  see  it,  the  notion  of  Spinoza 
must  be  stated,  that  the  mind  is  the  idea  of  a 
1)ody  existing.  This  idea  is  not  single,  but  com- 
pounded of  many  ideas.  Then  follows  the  12th 
prop,  part  2,  Ethics,  namely,  "  Whatever  takes 
place  in  the  object  of  the  idea  constituting  the 
human  mind,  [i.  e.  the  human  body,]  must  be 
perceived  by  the  human  mind,  or,  the  human 
mind  will  necessarily  have  an  idea  of  it." 

Spinoza  elsewhere  states  that  man  is  consti- 
tuted by  modifications  of  two  attributes  of  God, 
to  wit,  thought  and  extension,  i.  e.  mind  and 
body  ;  but,  because  these  are,  in  the  absolute  na- 
ture of  God,  a  unity,  they  must  be  developed 
under  the  same  uniform  law,  and  hence  their 
operations  or  manifestations  are  simultaneous,  or, 
in  a  certain  sense,  the  same,  only  regarded  in  two 
ways,  one  as  thought,  the  other  as  body.  And 
by  this  would  be  explained  the  curious  problem 


302  SWEDENBORG,  [Cn.  XII. 

touching  the  correspondence  between  the  most 
abstruse  mathematical  results,  arrived  at  in  the 
closet,  and  the  motions  of  the  physical  heavens, 
or  heavenly  bodies  ;  for  they  are  the  same  essence 
manifested  in  two  ways,  and  make  but  one,  as  all 
things  make  one,  in  God. 

It  is  not  my  object  to  exhibit  any  thing  more 
than  the  likeness  between  the  two  writers ;  but 
at  this  point,  I  cannot  help  suggesting  that  possi- 
bly, in  the  curious  proposition  above  stated,  may 
be  found  the  true  ground  of  Swedenborg's  visions 
into  what  he  calls  the  spiritual  world ;  for  it  may 
not  be  impossible  that  some  men  may  so  habitu- 
ally contemplate  the  physical  things  of  the  world 
in  their  essence,  i.  e.  in  God,  as  measurably  to 
cease  to  regard  them  in  their  inferior  character 
as  'modes  or  modifications ;  and  as  all  things  in 
God  are  eternal,  these  modifications  may  be  re- 
garded as  eternal,  when  thus  recognized  by  the 
intellect,  instead  of  being  regarded  simply  by  the 
senses  as  mere  appearances.  In  this  way,  what- 
ever is  the  object  of  knowledge,  even  through 
the  senses,  becomes,  when  seen  in  the  intellect, 
spiritual  and  eternal ;  and  hence  man,  if  he  can 
conceive  himself  thus  to  see  things  in  their  es- 
sence, may  speak  of  this  vision  as  a  vision  of  the 
spiritual  world.  The  spirits  of  departed  men,  as 


CH.  XII.]  A   HERMETIC   PHILOSOPHER.  303 

of  Plato,  Cicero,  Luther,  Calvin,  &c.,  may  be  con- 
sidered as  seen  in  their  works,  which  have  come 
down  to  us,  through  which  we  become  acquaint- 
ed with  them,  as  we  do  with  living  men.  The 
spirits  of  departed  men  are  then  seen  in  their  es- 
sence, i.  e.  our  knowledge  of  them  is  thus  seen 
and  regarded  as  eternal.  This  may  be  considered 
as  a  tolerably  legitimate  result  of  Spinoza's  doc- 
trine ;  for  by  prop.  22,  23,  24  of  part  1,  Ethics, 
he  undertakes  to  demonstrate  the  eternity  of 
modes  or  things,  not  regarded  as  things,  but  as 
seen  in  the  intellect,  and  referred  to  God.  It 
should  be  recollected  that  Swedenborg  saw,  in 
the  spiritual  world,  whatever  is  seen  on  earth, 
and  no  small  power  of  ridicule  has  been  expend- 
ed upon  him  for  alleging,  that  in  the  spiritual 
world  there  are  a  sun  and  earths,  with  inhabit- 
ants in  cities,  having  dwellings,  with  every  spe- 
cies of  furniture,  &c. ;  in  short,  our  own  natural 
system  seen  in  the  spirit,  i.  e.  referred  to  God  as 
the  sole  cause  of  both  the  essence  and  existence 
of  all  things,  and  thus  conceived  under  the  form 
of  eternity,  as  God  is  eternal. 

"  In  the  spiritual  world,"  says  Swedenborg,  "  or,  in 
the  world  where  spirits  and  angels  are,  similar  things 
appear  as  in  the  natural  world,  or  where  men  are ;  so 
similar,  that  as  to  external  aspect  there  is  no  differ- 
ence." Heaven  and  Hell,  par.  582. 


304  SWEDENBOKG,  [Cfl.  XII. 

And  again :  "  It  is  not  yet  known  that  the  Divine 
Providence,  in  all  progression  with  man,  looks  at  his  eter- 
nal state ;  for  it  can  look  at  nothing  else,  because  the 
Divine  is  infinite  and  eternal ;  and  the  infinite  and  eter- 
nal, or  the  Divine,  is  not  in  time,  and  hence  all  future 
things  [and  so  also  all  past  things]  are  present  to  it. 
And  because  the  Divine  is  such,  it  follows,  that  in  each 
and  every  thing  which  it  does  is  the  eternal.  Yet  they 
who  think  from  time  and  space,  perceive  this  with 
difficulty,  not  only  because  they  love  temporal  things, 
but  also  because  they  think  from  the  present  in  the 
world,  and  not  from  the  present  in  heaven ;  this  is  as 
absent  from  them  as  the  end  of  the  earth.  But  they, 
who  are  in  the  Divine,  do  also  think  from  the  eternal 
when  from  the  present,  because  from  the  Lord,  saying 
with  themselves,  What  is  that  which  is  not  eternal  ?  " 
&c.  Angelic  Wisdom  concerning  D.  Prov.  par.  59. 

It  would  be  easy  jto  multiply  passages  like 
these  from  the  writings  of  Swedenborg.  They 
are  profusely  scattered  throughout  his  works,  and 
if  they  signify  any  thing,  it  must  be  on  the  sup- 
position that  the  universe  is  identified  in  some 
way  with  God,  "not  as  he  is  infinite"  [Spinoza] 
but  as  he  is  manifested  by  the  universe,  which  is 
to  be  seen  truly  only  when  seen  in  God ;  in  which 
case,  "  each  and  every  thing  "  becomes  invested 
with  a  divine  aspect,  and  has  the  signification  of 
eternity.  In  the  last  of  the  above  passages,  Swe- 
denborg has  warned  us  that  those  who  think  from 


CH.  XII.]  A  HERMETIC   PHILOSOPHER.  305 

time  and  space  can  with  difficulty  perceive  this. 
He  may  as  well  have  said,  at  once,  that  they  can- 
not perceive  it  at  all,  and  then  have  added,  that, 
neither  can  those  who  think  from  time  and  space, 
judge  of  the  doctrine  of  either  himself  or  of 
Spinoza. 

XXX.  Swedenborg.  "  That  which  a  man  loves 
above  all  things  is  continually  present  in  his  thought,  be- 
cause in  his  will,  and  makes  his  veriest  life.  As  for 
example,  he  who  loves  riches,  whether  money  or  posses- 
sions, above  all  things,  continually  revolves  in  his  mind 
how  he  may  procure  them  for  himself;  he  inwardly  re- 
joices when  he  gains ;  he  inwardly  grieves  when  he 
loses ;  his  heart  is  in  them.  *  *  *  All  the  delight, 
pleasure,  and  happiness  of  every  one,  are  from  his 
ruling  love,  and  according  to  it ;  for  that  which  a  man 
loves,  he  calls  delightful,  because  he  feels  it ;  but  that 
which  he  thinks,  but  does  not  love,  he  may  also  call  de- 
lightful, but  it  is  not  the  delight  of  his  life.  The  de- 
light of  the  love  is  what  is  good  to  a  man,  and  the  op- 
posite is  what  is  evil  to  him.  *  *  *  *  A  man  is 
altogether  such  as  the  ruling  principle  of  his  life  is ;  by 
this  he  is  distinguished  from  others  ;  according  to  this 
his  heaven  is  made,  if  he  is  good,  and  his  hell,  if  he  is 
evil ;  it  is  his  very  will,  his  proprium  [that  which  be- 
longs peculiarly  to  him],  and  his  nature ;  for  it  cannot 
be  changed,  because  it  is  the  man  himself."  T.  G.  JR. 

Spinoza.  "  For  we  have  proved  above  that  we  do 
not  desire  a  thing  because  we  judge  it  to  be  good,  but 
on  the  contrary,  we  call  it  good  because  we  desire  it, 
and  consequently  we  call  what  we  are  averse  to,  evil ;  so 


306  8WEDENBOKG,  [Cn.  XII. 

that  every  one  judges  or  estimates  what  is  good,  what 
bad ;  what  better,  what  worse ;  what  best,  what  worst ; 
according  to  his  passions.  The  miser  thinks  a  plenty 
of  money  the  best  thing  and  the  want  of  it  the  worst. 
The  ambitious,"  &c.  &c.  Ethics,  part  3,  prop.  39, 
schol. — and  the  schol.  to  prdp.  51,  p.  3,  remarks — 
'  Hence  when  we  compare  men  together,  we  distinguish 
them  by  the  difference  of  their  affections  alone.''  " 

Here  are  in  fact  three  points  of  contact  instead 
of  one ;  to  wit,  that  our  love  or  desire  is  the  foun- 
dation of  our  judgment  of  what  is  good :  2d,  the 
love  of  wealth  and  the  miser,  taken  as  an  illustra- 
tion :  and  lastly,  the  notion  of  each  writer,  that 
men  are  to  be  distinguished  from  each  other  by 
their  passions,  loves,  affections,  and  not  by  rea- 
son, which  is  uniform  in  all  men. 

XXXI.  /Swedenborg.  "  For  those  who  put  reward 
in  the  first  place,  and  salvation  in  the  second,  thus,  this 
for  the  sake  of  that,  invert  order,  and  immerse  the  in- 
terior desires  of  their  mind  in  their  proprium,  and  in 
the  body  defile  them  with  the  delights  of  their  flesh." 
True  G.  R.  page  310. 

Spinoza,  after  proving  that  virtue  and  religion  are 
their  own  reward,  remarks,  that  "  most  persons  seem  to 
think  themselves  free  only  when  they  are  allowed  to 
consult  their  own  pleasure,  and  feel  as  if  they  were  sur- 
rendering something  of  their  rights  when  they  yield 
obedience  to  the  divine  law;  as  if  the  service  of  God 
were  not  perfect  freedom  and  perfect  happiness.  Piety 
then  and  religion,  and  in  short  whatever  belongs  to  for- 


CH.  Xn.]  A   HERMETIC   PHILOSOPHEE.  307 

titude  or  strength  of  soul,  are  looked  upon  as  burdens, 
which  they  hope  to  lay  aside  after  death,  and  receive 
the  reward  of  their  services,  to  wit,  of  their  piety  and 
religion."  Ethics,  part  5,  prop.  41,  schoL 

XXXII.  Swedenborg.      "  It   is  quite   otherwise 
with  those  who  regard  reward  in  works  as  the  end  it- 
self.    These  are  like  those  who  enter  into  friendship 
for  gain,  &c.     *     *     *     The  case  is  similar  with  those 
who  claim  recompense  for  their  merit  in  the  things  of 
salvation."     True  C.  E.  page  310. 

Spinoza.  This  is  but  a  repetition,  with  the  particu- 
lar allusion  to  interested  friendship  ;  in  regard  to  which 
Spinoza  says,  in  prop.  71,  part  4,  that  "the  mutual 
kindness  or  favor  of  men,  who  are  governed  by  blind 
desire,  is  a  trade  or  traffic,"  &c. 

XXXIII.  Swedenborg.   "  God  alone  acts,  and  man 
suffers  himself  to  be  acted  upon,  and  co-operates  in  all 
appearance  as  from  himself,  although  inwardly  from 
God."     True  C.  £.  page  397. 

Spinoza.  "  God  alone  acts  by  the  sole  necessity  of 
his  own  nature,  and  therefore  God  alone  is  a  free 
cause."  Ethics,  part  1,  prop.  17,  corol.  2. 

Yet  it  should  be  remarked,  that  Spinoza  con- 
tends for  a  freedom  in  man  in  so  far  as  he  acts 
from  adequate  ideas  referred  to  God  as  their 
cause ;  but  he  considers  that  in  so  far  as  man  is 
acted  upon  by  external  causes,  blindly,  uncon- 
scious of  the  existence  of  these  causes  in  God,  he 
is  not  free,  but  a  slave.  But  even  here  there  is 
an  opening  for  freedom  in  the  man  who  can 


308  SWEDENBOKG,  [CH.  XII. 

recognize  God  in  all  these  external  causes,  and 
when  ~by  love  to  God  he  yields  joyfully  to  them, 
converting  them  as  it  were  into  his  own  acts,  by 
regarding  them  as  God's  acts,  with  which  his 
love  of  God  places  him  in  harmony,  in  relation 
or  in  conjunction.  See  No.  VI. 

As  a  further  illustration  of  the  above,  I  take 
the  following  passage  from 

Swedenborg.  "  Concerning  the  elevation  of  the  in- 
terior of  a  man's  mind,  this  also  is  to  be  observed ; 
there  is  from  God  in  every  created  thing  a  re-action : 
Life  alone  has  action,  and  re-action  is  excited  by  the 
action  of  life :  this  re-action  appears  as  if  it  belonged 
to  the  created  thing,  because  it  exists  when  the  being 
is  acted  upon ;  thus  in  man  it  appears  as  if  it  were  his 
own,  because  he  does  not  perceive  any  otherwise  than 
that  life  is  his  own,  when  nevertheless  man  is  only  a 
recipient  of  life.  From  this  cause  it  is  that  man,  from 
his  own  hereditary  evil,  re-acts  against  God ;  but  [and 
here  is  the  doctrine  assimilated  to  that  of  Spinoza]  so 
far  as  he  believes  that  all  his  life  is  from  God,  and 
every  good  of  life  from  the  action  of  God,  and  every 
evil  of  life  from  the  re-action  of  man,  re-action  becomes 
correspondent  with  action,  and  man  acts  with  God,  as 
from  himself.  The  equilibrium  of  all  things  is  from 
action  and  joint  re-action,  and  every  thing  must  be  in 
equilibrium."  Angelic  Wisdom  cone.  Div.  Love,  p.  23. 

XXXIV.  Swedenborg.  "  It  is  to  be  known  that  the 
faculty  of  elevating  the  understanding,  even  to  the  in- 
telligence in  which  the  angels  of  heaven  are,  is  from 


CH.  XII.]  A   HERMETIC   PHILOSOPHER.  309 

creation  inherent  in  every  man,  in  the  bad  as  well  as 
the  good."     True  G.  B.  page  397. 

Spinoza.  "  The  intellectual  love  of  God  (the  per- 
fection of  the  mind)  is  eternal,"  and  "  the  mind  has 
eternally  those  perfections  we  have  supposed  it  to  ac- 
quire." Ethics,  part  5,  prop.  33,  schol. 

XXXV.  Swedenborg.     "  But  yet  no  one  can  be 
said  to  be  reformed  by  the  mere  knowledges  of  truths ; 
for  man,  from  the  faculty  of  elevating  the  understanding 
above  the  love  of  the  will,  can  apprehend  them  (truths) 
and  also  speak,  teach,  and  preach  them.     But  he  is  re- 
formed who  is  in  the  affection  of  truth  for  the  sake  of 
truth."     True  Chr.  Eelig. 

Spinoza.  This  is  but  a  repetition  of  the  doctrine  in 
No.  XXVII.,  though  its  similitude  to  Spinoza's  prop. 
14,  part  4,  is  more  clear  and  striking. 

XXXVI.  Swedenborg.    "  It  is  commonly  believed, 
that  life  is  in  man  his,  so  that  he  is  not  only  a  recep- 
tacle of  life,  but  also  life.     That  it  is  commonly  so  be- 
lieved is  from  appearance,  because  he  lives,  i.  e.  feels, 
thinks,  speaks,  and  acts,  altogether  as  from  himself." 
True  C.  E.  page  335. 

Spinoza.  This  is  a  repetition  of  XIV.  The  essence 
of  man,  according  to  Spinoza,  does  not  involve  neces- 
sary existence,  and  men  believe  themselves  free,  of 
themselves  (and  not  from  God),  because  "  they  are  con- 
scious of  their  desires,  but  not  conscious  of  the  cause 
of  them." 

XXXVII.  Swedenborg.    "  Most  [men]  at  this  day 
are  natural,  and  few  spiritual ;    and  the  natural  man 
judges   from   appearances,   and   thence    fallacies,  and 
these  are  diametrically  opposite  to  this  truth,  that  man 
is  only  a  receptacle  of  truth."     True  G.  R.  page  335. 


310  SWEDENBORG,  [Cn.  XII. 

Spinoza.     This  also  is  a  repetition. 

XXXVIII.  Swedenborg.    "  God,  because  he  is  in- 
finite, is  life  in  itself.     This  he  cannot  create,  and  thus 
transcribe  into  man,  for  this  would  be  to  make  him 
God."     True  C.  M.  page  335. 

Spinoza.     See  No.  IX. 

XXXIX.  Swedenborg.     Speaking  of  the  conjunc- 
tion of  man  with  God,  and  its  possibility,  Swedenborg 
says,  "  that  man  does  not  know  this  from  any  light  of 
reason,  is  because  fallacies  from  the  believed  appearances 
of  the  external  senses  of  the  body  overshadow  that 
light."     True  G.  E.  page  336. 

Spinoza.  This  is  Spinoza's  doctrine,  referring  to 
what  he  calls  knowledge  of  the  first  kind  (see  No.  III.), 
which  is  sensuous,  and  founded  on  the  images  of  things 
from  without ;  which,  so  far  from  giving  us  a  knowledge 
of  God  and  divine  things,  "  obstructs  that  knowledge, 
and  never  leads  to  it."  Ethics,  part  2,  prop.  41,  42. 

XL.  Swedenborg.  "  For  the  principal  cause  and 
the  instrumental  cause  act  together  as  one  cause,  ac- 
cording to  a  maxim  known  to  the  learned  world."  True 
G.  E.  p.  336. 

Spinoza  must  be  considered  as  included  in  what 
Swedenborg  calls  the  learned  world,  for  this  is  his 
doctrine.  Many  philosophers  speak  of  two  causes,  the 
efficient,  and  the  occasional  or  transient  cause,  but 
Spinoza,  with  Swedenborg,  knows  of  but  one  cause,  and 
that  is  God. 

XLI.  Swedenborg.  "  Who  denies,  or  can  deny, 
that  all  the  good  of  love,  and  all  the  truth  of  wisdom, 
are  solely  from  God ;  and  that,  as  far  as  man  receives 
them  from  God,  so  far  he  lives  from  God,  and  is  said 


CH.  XII.]  A  HEEMETIC  PHILOSOPHER.  311 

to  be  born  of  God,  that  is,  regenerated.  And,  on  the 
other  hand,  as  far  as  any  does  not  receive  love  and  wis- 
dom, or,  what  is  similar,  charity  and  faith,  so  far  he 
does  not  receive  life,  which  in  itself  is  life,  from  God, 
but  from  hell,  which  is  no  other  life  than  inverted  life, 
which  is  called  spiritual  death."  T.  C.  E.  335,  6. 

Spinoza's  language  wholly  differs  from  this,  but 
nevertheless  the  idea  conveyed  above  corresponds  to 
the  doctrine  of  the  Ethics,  as  far  as  I  can  make  out 
what  was  intended,  and  it  may  be  stated  something 
after  this  manner  :  God  is  the  sole  absolutely  Infinite 
Being,  with  attributes,  as  before  stated  (No.  XV.) ;  not 
absolutely  infinite,  but  infinite  in  their  own  kind.  Of 
these  attributes  man  is  acquainted  with  but  two, 
thought  and  extension ;  and  this  for  the  reason,  that  he 
is  composed  of  these.  Thought  and  extension  are  both 
infinite,  but  man  is  not  thought  and  extension  itself,  or 
in  himself;  but  he  is  a  modification  of  these  attributes, 
and  may  conceive  himself  in  two  ways,  as  nature  active 
and  nature  passive.  In  the  first  case,  man  conceives 
himself  as  existing  in  God,  "  in  whom  are  all  things," 
and  in  so  far  as  he  does  this,  and  acts  from  this  idea 
(reason),  he  is  nature  active  ;  he  is  something  positive 
and  free.  But  man  does  not  stand  alone  in  the  world ; 
he  is  surrounded  by  infinite  other  things,  every  one  of 
which  has,  as  well  as  himself,  a  nature  active;  and 
now,  in  so  far  as  man  loses  sight  of  the  idea  of  God,  as 
He  "  in  whom  are  all  things,"  and  is  acted  upon  by 
outward  things,  he  represents  nature  passive ;  i.  e.  he 
does  not  act,  but  receives  an  action,  and  in  so  far  as  he 
does  this,  he  is  a  slave  and  not  a  free  man.  When  man 
is  thus  overcome  by  outward  things,  and  is  swept  along 


312  SWEDENBORG,  [Cn.  XII. 


the  tide  of  time  without  carrying  with  him  the  idea  of 
God,  the  man  is  blind,  and  a  slave,  and  it  may  answer, 
as  a  figure,  to  say,  as  Swedenborg  does,  that  he  then 
acts  from  hell,  and  the  idea  of  God  being  lost,  he  may 
be  said  to  be  spiritually  dead.  He  can  only  be  brought 
out  of  this  state  by  recovering  the  idea  of  God,  &c. 
See  XXXIII. 

XLII.  Swedenborg.  "  All  that  a  man  loves,  and 
from  love  wills,  is  free ;  for  whatever  proceeds  from  the 
love  of  the  internal  will,  is  the  delight  of  his  life ;  and 
because  the  same  is  the  esse  of  his  life,  it  is  also  his 
proprium,  (that  which  is  himself,)  which  is  the  cause 
that  that  which  is  received  in  a  free  state  of  this  will 
remains,  for  it  adds  itself  to  the  proprium.  The  con- 
trary is  the  case,  if  any  thing  is  introduced  not  in  a 
state  of  freedom."  T.  C.  £.  page  347. 

Again  :  "  All  freedom,  which  is  from  the  Lord,  is 
real  freedom,  but  that  which  is  from  hell,  and  thence 
with  man,  is  servitude."  Ibid. 

Spinoza's  definition  of  action  and  passion  is  in  the 
3d  part  of  the  Ethics,  as  follows  :  "  I  say  that  we  act, 
(are  in  a  state  of  action)  when  any  thing  takes  place 
either  within  us  or  without  us,  of  which  we  are  the 
adequate  causes ;  that  is,  when  any  thing  follows  from 
our  nature,  either  within  us  or  without  us,  which  can 
be  clearly  and  distinctly  understood  from  our  nature 
alone.  On  the  contrary,  we  are  passive,  (we  sufier, 
receive  an  action)  when  any  thing  takes  place  in  us, 
or  when  any  thing  follows  from  our  nature,  of  which 
we  are  only  the  partial  cause."  His  doctrine  upon  this 
is,  that  all  we  do  in  virtue  of  our  own  essence,  referred 
to  God  as  the  cause,  is  free  and  necessarily  good,  but 


CH.  XII.]  A   HERMETIC   PHILOSOPHER.  313 

that  many  things  done  unto  us,  where  we  are  acted 
upon  by  outward  nature,  are  limitations  upon  us,  and 
are  called  evils,  and  are  felt  to  be  such  so  long  as  they 
are  not  themselves  referred  to  God. 

I  presume  it  will  hardly  be  questioned  by  any 
one  that  a  very  clear  and  manifest  similarity  has 
been  shown,  by  the  foregoing  extracts,  between 
the  doctrines  of  Swedenborg  and  Spinoza,  so  far 
as  they  appeal  to  our  natural  faculties.  The  dis- 
similarities between  the  two  men  may  be  still 
greater  in  the  estimation  of  some,  though  it  is  not 
easy  to  see  how  men,  whose  groundwork,  in  a 
scientific  point  of  view,  is  so  nearly  the  same,  can 
very  widely  separate  from  each  other  without 
subjecting  one  of  the  parties  at  least  to  the  charge 
of  inconsistency.  Spinoza  certainly  made  no 
claim  to  any  peculiar  insight  into  the  spiritual 
world ;  no  claim  beyond  the  power  of  man's  nat- 
ural faculties ;  and  it  may  be  doubted  whether 
the  admirers  of  Swedenborg  do  not  claim  for  him 
more  than  he  ever  claimed  for  himself;  by  no 
means  an  unusual  case.  I  believe  that  many 
passages  from  his  own  writings  may  be  adduced, 
giving  a  decidedly  natural  aspect  to  all  his  pre- 
tensions. Thus,  he  speaks  of  the  knowledge  of 
his  day  having  attained  an  elevation  suitably 

preparing  the  world  for  the  truths  he  was  com- 
14 


314  SWEDENBOKG,  [Cn.  XII. 


missioned  to  teach.  He  speaks  of  Calvin's  con- 
duct on  earth  after  he  became  an  angel,  showing 
that  regenerated  men  are  considered  as  angels 
before  death,  &c.,  &c.,  but  I  do  not  design  to 
discuss  this  point. 

There  are  three  opinions  with  respect  to  Swe- 
denborg's  claims  to  intercourse  with  the  spiritual 
world,  entitled  to  consideration. 

1st.  The  followers  or  admirers  of  Sweden- 
borg,  or  some  of  them,  believe  that  he  was  ac- 
tually inspired  by  God,  in  an  especial  manner, 
for  a  divine  purpose ;  and  the  most  intelligent 
among  them  defend  this  opinion,  not  by  an  ap- 
peal to  miracles  or  outward  signs,  but  by  an  ap- 
peal to  the  truths  disclosed  by  him,  which  they 
think  of  such  a  character,  that  man  in  a  state  of 
nature  could  not  have  discovered  them,  though 
they  affirm  that  men  may,  by  their  natural  facul- 
ties, perceive  and  recognize  their  truth.  It  is 
therefore  strictly  by  what  is  called  an  internal 
argument,  that  Swedenborg's  pretensions  are  de- 
fended. This  might  be  answered  by  an  appeal 
to  Spinoza's  Ethics,  where  most  assuredly  the 
scientific  grounds  of  Swedenborg  were  anticipated 
by  nearly  one  hundred  years,  as  must  be  evident 
from  the  foregoing  extracts. 

2d.  Another  opinion  has  been  presented  in  a 


Cn.  XII.]  A   HERMETIC   PHIL080PHEE.  315 

systematic  form  by  Herder,  who  supposes  that 
Swedenborg's  fancy  had  been  so  long  and  so  in- 
tensely indulged  in  a  particular  direction,  that 
its  subjective  operations  became  to  him  uncon- 
sciously objective ;  that,  without  the  smallest  in- 
tention to  deceive  others,  he  gave  out  that  he  had 
intercourse  with  the  spiritual  world,  and  talked 
with  spiritual  beings,  while  in  fact  he  only  held 
conversations  with  his  own  spirit,  the  operations 
of  which  became  objective  to  him.  Hence  he 
made  Cicero  and  other  ancient  philosophers,  as 
Herder  intimates,  talk  Swedenborgianism. 

3d.  There  is  still  one  other  opinion,  which  has 
not  yet  had  time  to  make  its  way  in  the  world, 
that  of  Rossetti,  a  learned  and  ingenious  professor 
of  Italian  literature  in  King's  College,  England. 
Rossetti  supposes  that  a  secret  society  has  existed 
in  Italy,  embracing  members  in  every  part  of 
Europe,  since  as  far  back  at  least  as  A.  D.  1000  : 
that  this  society  was  composed  of  the  most  learned 
and  scientific  men,  whose  intelligence  was  in  ad- 
vance of  the  world,  enabling  them  to  see  the  er- 
rors of  the  Roman  church,  which  however  by  its 
power  controlled  and  restrained  these  men  from 
the  free  expression  of  their  opinions :  that,  in 
consequence  of  this,  the  literary  men  of  those 
ages  avoided  persecution,  imprisonment  and 


316  SWEDENBOKG,  [Cn.  XII. 

death,  by  the  use  of  a  conventional  language,  the 
exoteric  or  outward  import  of  which  appeared 
friendly  to  the  party  in  power,  while  its  esoteric 
or  secret  meaning  was  in  direct  hostility  to  the 
church,  and  clearly  understood  to  be  so  by  the 
initiated.  Rossetti  has  employed  great  ingenuity 
in  explaining  the  writings  of  Dante,  Petrarch, 
Boccacio,  and  others,  in  conformity  with  his  the- 
ory ;  and  he  intimates  a  rather  decided  opipion, 
that  Swedenborg  was  a  member  of  that  society, 
which  he  thinks  is  still  in  existence.  Rossetti 
asks,  with  a  good  deal  of  point,  in  reference  to 
Swedenborg,  "  Has  the  thought  never  occurred 
to  any  one,  that  the  man  who  displays  so  much 
vigor  in  a  variety  of  works  on  poetry,  philosophy, 
mathematics,  and  natural  history,  and  who  speaks 
continually  of  the  language  of  correspondence, 
which  gives  a  secret  meaning  to  the  smallest 
trifle,  on  the  system  of  the  ancient  schools  of  the 
East,  which  he  lauds  to  the  skies ;  that  a  man, 
in  short,  who,  even  in  his  most  extravagant  fits, 
displays  an  immense  store  of  sacred  and  profane 
learning,  and  an  uncommon  share  of  penetration, 
designedly  concealed  a  profound  meaning  under 
his  delusive  language  ?  Whoever  reads  his  works, 
and  attentively  weighs  his  words,  will  see  the 
real  meaning  of  the  language,  which  did  him  so 


CH.  XH.]  A  HERMETIC  PHILOSOPHER.  317 

inucli  discredit,  as  well  as  of  his  journeys  to 
heaven  and  hell,  and  his  conversations  with  the 
angels  and  demons ;  and  will  finally  perceive 
that  the  ravings  of  the  madman  explain  the  fic- 
tions of  the  sage."  [Disquisitions  on  the  Antipa- 
pal  Spirit  which  produced  the  Reformation,  &c., 
by  Gabrielli  Rossetti,  translated  by  Miss  Ward, 
vol.  2,  p.  177.] 

It  is  worthy  of  note,  that  in  several  of  his  works 
Swedenborg  has  drawn  a  line  of  separation  between  his 
scientific  views  and  what  are  called  "  relations,"  not  ex- 
actly revelations.  That  this  separation  was  deliberately 
made,  with  some  special  design,  we  may  be  sure,  by  a 
letter  from  Swedenborg  to  the  Danish  ambassador,  to 
be  found  at  page  173  of  Swedenborg's  Life,  Boston  ed. 
1845,  in  which,  referring  to  the  Apoc.  Rev.,  he  says, 
"  In  the  same  work  are  inserted  various  memorable  re- 
lations of  my  intercourse  with  the  spiritual  world  :  they 
are  separated  from  the  text  of  the  work  by  asterisks, 
and  are  to  be  found  at  the  end  of  the  explication  of  each 
chapter."  The  same  arrangement  was  made  of  the  re- 
lations in  his  work,  entitled,  "  True  Christian  Religion." 

Why  did  Swedenborg  make  the  separation  so  plainly 
between  the  scientific  view  and  the  relations  ?  Did  he 
consider  the  one  natural,  the  other  supernatural  ?  Some 
of  his  followers  seem  to  think  he  made  such  a  distinc- 
tion, but  we  have  his  own  declaration  to  the  contrary. 
To  M.  Venator  he  writes,  "  I  send  to-day  my  reply  to 
the  letter  which  his  highness,  your  prince,  has  recently 
sent  to  me ;  and  by  his  orders  I  speak  to  him  of  the 


SWEDENBOEG,  [Cfl.  XII. 

conversations  which  I  have  had  with  two  personages  in 
the  spiritual  world.  But  these  conversations,  as  well 
as  that  between  the  queen  of  Sweden  and  her  brother, 
when  he  was  living,  which  was  made  known  to  me  by 
him  in  the  spiritual  world,  ought  by  no  means  to  be  re- 
garded as  miracles."  Life,  p.  178. 

To  the  Landgrave  of  Hesse-Darmstadt  he  writes  : 
"  That  which  is  reported  of  the  daughter  of  the  Prince 
Margrave  in  Sweden,  is  a  fiction,  invented  by  some 
foolish  novelist,  and  I  never  even  heard  of  it  before. 
As  to  that  which  is  related  of  the  brother  of  the  queen 
of  Sweden,  it  is  entirely  true  ;  but  it  should  not  be  re- 
garded as  a  miracle"  &c.  Life,  p.  176. 

To  Dr.  Oetinger,  in  1766,  he  writes  :  "  To  your  in- 
terrogation, whether  there  is  occasion  for  any  sign  that 
I  am  sent  by  the  Lord  to  do  what  I  do  ?  I  answer,  that 
at  this  day  no  signs  or  miracles  will  be  given,  because 
they  compel  only  an  external  belief,  but  do  not  convince 
the  internal.  What  did  the  miracles  avail  in  Egypt,  or 
among  the  Jewish  nation,  who  nevertheless  crucified  the 
Lord  ?  "  Lip,  p.  43. 

In  the  same  letter  he  says,  u  Why  from  &  philoso- 
pher have  I  been  chosen  to  this  office  ?  Unto  which  I 
give  for  answer,  to  the  end  that  the  spiritual  knowledge, 
which  is  revealed  at  this  day,  might  be  rationally 
learned,  and  naturally  understood;  because  spiritual 
truths  answer  unto  natural  ones,  inasmuch  as  these 
originate  and  flow  from  them."  Life,  p.  44. 

He  says  to  M.  Venator,  referring  to  his  work,  The 
True  Christian  Religion,  "  You  may  see  in  the  work 
above-mentioned,  that  there  are  no  more  miracles  at 
this  time ;  and  the  reason  why  it  is,  that  they  who  do 


CH.  XII.]  A   HERMETIC   PHILOSOPHER.  319 

not  believe  because  they  see  no  miracles,  might  easily 
by  them  be  led  into  fanaticism."     Life,  p.  178. 

From  the  above  passages,  one  point  seems 
quite  clear,  that  Swedenborgmade  no  pretension 
to  miraculous  knowledge.  We  are  bound  there- 
fore to  give  a  rational  interpretation  to  what  he 
writes,  or  deny  that  it  has  any  "  significance 
for  us." 

As  a  further  proof  that  Swedenborg  did  not 
regard  his  revelations  of  the  spiritual  world,  and 
of  "  Representations  and  Correspondences,"  as 
miraculous,  but  merely  natural,  I  would  refer  to 
the  Animal  Kingdom,  vol.  1,  p.  451,  where,  in  a 
note  to  a  purely  philosophical  allusion  in  the  text 
to  the  "  symbolical  representation  of  spiritual  life 
in  corporeal  life,"  and  to  a  "perpetual  typical 
representation  of  the  soul  in  the  body,"  he  says : 
"In  our  doctrine  of  representations  and  corre- 
spondences, we  shall  treat  of  both  these  symboli- 
cal and  typical  representations,  and  of  the  aston- 
ishing things  which  occur,  I  will  net  say  in  the 
living  body  only,  but  throughout  nature,  and 
which  correspond  so  entirely  to  supreme  and 
spiritual  things,  that  one  would  swear  that  the 
physical  world  was  purely  symbolical  of  the  spir- 
itual world.  Insomuch  that,  if  we  choose  to  ex- 
press any  natural  truth  in  physical  and  vocal 


320  SWEDENBOKG,  [Cn.  XII. 

terms,  and  to  convert  these  terms  only  into  the 
corresponding  spiritual  terms,  we  shall  by  this 
means  elicit  a  spiritual  truth  or  theological  dogma, 
in  place  of  the  physical  truth  or  precept:  al  though, 
no  mortal  would  have  predicted  that  any  thing 
of  the  kind  could  possibly  arise  by  bare  literal 
transposition ;  inasmuch  as  the  one  precept,  con- 
sidered separately  from  the  other,  appears  to 
have  absolutely  no  relation  to  it.  I  intend  here- 
after to  communicate  a  number  of  examples  of 
such  correspondences,  together  with  a  vocabulary, 
containing  the  terms  of  spiritual  things,  as  well 
as  of  the  physical  things,  for  which  they  are  to 
be  substituted." 

In  this  note,  from  one  of  his  merely  philoso- 
phical works,  we  have  a  distinct  expression  of 
Swedenborg's  intention  with  respect  to  what  he 
subsequently  accomplished  in  pointing  out  what 
he  considered  the  spiritual  truth  corresponding 
to  the  letter  of  the  Scripture;  and  when  his 
philosophical  system  is  penetrated  it  will  be  seen 
that  his  theological  views  necessarily  result  from 
it.  I  do  not  say  that  the  system  is  true  or  false  ; 
for  I  am  not  satisfied  with  my  qualifications  for 
an  opinion  on  this  point ;  but  I  am  quite  sure 
that  the  Whole  system,  i.  e.  the  whole  life  and 


Oil.  Xn.]  A  HERMETIC  PHILOSOPHER.  321 

pretensions  of  Swedenborg  are  to  be  regarded 
only  from  the  natural  point  of  view. 

Those  of  his  friends  and  followers,  therefore, 
who  persist  in  imputing  to  him  supernatural  en- 
dowments, are  not  faithful  to  his  memory.  To 
these  people,  I  would  use  the  advice  of  Miss 
Fuller,  and  urge  them  to  study  the  works  of  Swe- 
denborg ;  and  I  would  add,  study  them  until  they 
learn  from  Swedenborg  himself  how  to  under- 
stand him  ;  and  they  may  suspect  their  own  in- 
tellectual vision,  until  they  can  see  him  in  a 
natural  point  of  view,  when  they  may  rest  as- 
sured his  knowledge  and  genius  will  justify  as 
much  admiration  as  any  one  mere  man  should 
pay  to  another. 

Some  of  Swedenborg's  followers  are  now  pro- 
posing the  establishment  of  a  Hierarchy  in  the 
name  of  their  leader,  while,  in  fact,  there  is  no 
sign  in  any  part  of  his  writings  that  he  ever  ex- 
pected or  desired  the  institution  of  a  separate 
sect  of  Christians,  as  a  consequence  of  his  reve- 
lations. The  new  Church,  the  new  Jerusalem, 
is  in  Heaven,  according  to  Swedenborg,  and 
comes  down  to  men  in  all  of  the  churches  when 
they  are  prepared  to  receive  it.  But  its  coming 

will  not  be  hastened  by  the  establishment  of  a 
14* 


322  SWEDENBORG,  [Cfl.  XII. 

new  sect  of  Christians  under  his  own  or  any  other 
name ;  and  much  less  can  its  coming  be  secured 
by  a  Hierarchy.  Those  who  desire  such  an  or- 
ganization might  do  well  to  study  the  history  of 
Romanism,  and  see  how  the  Pontificate  grew 
out  of  Catholicism,  by  the  effort  to  confine  the 
truth  of  God  within  the  narrow  limits  of  human 
organizations.  I  would  advise  all  lovers  of  Swe- 
denborg  to  remain  in  their  respective  churches, 
except  where  they  discover  something  in  conflict 
with  their  consciences,  and  then,  by  obeying  the 
teachings  of  Swedenborg,  there  may  be  some 
hope  of  extending  the  good  by  their  examples  of 
"  holiness  and  pureness  of  living."  If  Sweden- 
borg's  teachings  are  good,  and  those  who  profit 
by  them  withdraw  from  their  accustomed  asso- 
ciations, conscientiously  formed,  they  deprive 
their  friends  of  one  of  the  greatest  advantages 
for  improvement,  that  of  living  examples. 

A  mathematical  axiom  occurs  to  me  here, 
which  I  must  notice ;  that,  when  two  things  are 
equal  to  a  third  thing,  they  are  equal  to  each 
other. 

I  by  no  means  say,  in  a  strict  sense,  that 
Spinoza  and  the  Hermetic  writers  are  like  Swe- 
denborg, affording  an  inference  that  the  Hermetic 
writers  and  Spinoza  are  to  be  classed  together. 


CH.  XII.]  A   HERMETIC   PHILOSOPHER.  323 

JVfy  position  is  that  there  is  something  in  Sweden- 
borg  like  Spinoza,  to  wit,  chiefly,  his  scientific 
principles ;  and  something  apparently  drawn 
from  the  Hermetic  writers,  as  for  example,  their 
doctrine  of  the  one  and  three,  but  more  especially 
their  mode,  the  Hermetic  mode,  of  writing; — 
writing  of  man  in  different  senses,  as  a  natural, 
spiritual  and  celestial  being; — affirming  of  one 
phase  of  man's  nature  that  which  is  denied  of 
another, — as,  when  he  says,  that  angels  can  see 
man  but  men  cannot  see  angels,  meaning  merely 
that  man  in  his  higher  development  may  under- 
stand man  in  the  lower  states,  but  not  contrarily, 
&c. 

Swedenborg  seems  to  have  attempted  to  com- 
bine into  one  system  the  peculiarities  of  both 
without  sufficiently  considering  that  something 
like  a  contradiction  would  be  observed  in  the  re- 
sult ; — and  yet  such  a  contradiction  is  very  visi- 
ble. If  we  look  at  any  of  Swedenborg's  sys- 
tematic works  on  religion, — the  Divine  Love  and 
Divine  Wisdom,  or  the  True  Christian  Religion, 
— we  shall  see  a  studied  effort  to  lay  down  at  first 
some  principles  to  be  regarded  as  irrefragable, 
after  the  manner  of  writing  on  science  ;  as  if  he 
intended  that  his  work  should  be  regarded  from 
a  rational  point  of  view  only.  He  endeavored 


324  SWEDENBOKG,  [Cfl.  XII. 


to  set  forth  certain  principles  of  Being, 
Substance  and  Mode,  which  we  are  bound  to  sup- 
pose he  intended  should  be  understood  as  a  scien- 
tific basis  for  the  superstructure  to  follow.  We 
commence  the  study,  therefore,  as  if  our  rational 
faculty  was  appealed  to,  and  we  naturally  expect 
a  continuance  of  the  relation  thus  established  be- 
tween the  author  and  his  reader.  But  we  soon 
come  to  something  about  the  opening  of  his  in- 
ternal spirit  by  the  Lord,  by  which  the  author 
separates  himself  from  us  and  assumes,  if  we  take 
him  literally,  to  address  us  from  another  world 
with  which  we  are  not  supposed  to  have  any  in- 
tercourse ;  and  as  a  necessary  consequence,  his 
readers  are  no  longer  in  a  condition  to  decide 
upon  what  he  communicates  from  the  principles 
of  reason  so  carefully  laid  down  at  first.  The 
natural,  in  a  certain  degree,  seems  to  run  into  the 
supernatural,  the  connecting  link  with  which,  if 
known  at  all,  is  known  only  to  the  author  and 
not  to  the  reader.  The  latter,  then,  is  no  longer 
in  a  condition  to  apply  the  principles  at  first  in- 
culcated with  so  much  care  ;  but,  if  not  very 
watchful,  he  continues  to  read  with  the  security 
of  possessing  a  test  of  reason  for  what  he  reads, 
when,  in  fact,  he  is  carried  into  the  field  of  imagi- 


CH.  XII.]  A  HERMETIC   PHILOSOPHER.  325 

nation, — unless  it  may  happen,  that  the  reader's 
internal  sight  shall  be  open  also. 

Now,  Spinoza's  Ethics  is  demonstrative,  in 
form,  throughout,  though  he  exhibits  many  beau- 
tiful truths  in  no  manner  dependent  upon  his 
demonstrations.  These  truths,  I  might  almost 
say,  shine  in  his  writings  like  the  fire  in  the  bush, 
though  it  may  require  the  spirit  of  a  Moses  to 
apprehend  them  fully.  But,  although  such 
truths  do  appear,  Spinoza  wrote  from  the  scien- 
tific point  of  view,  and  asks  nothing  from  his 
reader  but  the  exercise  of  his  rational  faculties. 
He  has  much  to  say  of  substance  and  mode,  like 
Swedenborg  after  him,  but  unlike  Swedenborg 
he  says  nothing  of  the  opening  of  his  internal 
sight,  and  makes  no  demand  upon  our  faith  in 
his  personal  teaching. 

The  Hermetic  writers  have,  on  the  other 
hand,  nothing,  or  but  very  little  to  say  of  sub- 
stance and  mode ; — and  though  they,  least  of  all 
teachers  of  whom  I  know  any  thing,  claim  au- 
thority as  teachers,  they  employ  their  utmost 
ingenuity  to  cany  the  mind  of  the  student  above, 
I  do  not  say  reason  itself,  but  above  reasoning. 
They  would  apparently  have  us  believe  that  the 
most  important  principle  that  can  be  known  is 
something  subsisting  independently  of  reasoning, 


326  SWEDENBOEG,  [Cn.  XII. 

and  antecedent  to  all  demonstration — upon  which 
all  true  demonstrations  themselves  depend.  I 
suppose,  indeed,  that  Spinoza  saw  this  principle 
(vide  Letters  21  and  23  to  Oldenburg,  posthumous 
works,  ed.  1802),  and  endeavored  to  represent  it 
in  a  demonstrative  form,  contrary,  as  many  think, 
to  the  nature  of  the  thing.  Those  who  think  that 
the  subject  treated  of  can  be  brought  within  the 
field  of  science,  will  find  nowhere,  as  I  suppose, 
a  more  methodical  and  exact  treatment  of  it  than 
in  Spinoza's  Ethics.  This  form  is  very  attractive 
to  those  who  realize  in  themselves  a  strong  intel- 
lectual power  and  delight  in  its  exercise.  A 
somewhat  similar  attraction  is  found  in  the  writ- 
ings of  Swedenborg,  for  they  present  the  same 
scientific  basis  that  Spinoza  wrote  from,  though 
the  author  does  not  use  his  principles  in  a  de- 
monstrative manner. 

The  older  Hermetic  writers  aim  at  nothing  of 
this  sort.  Neither  do  they  elaborate  systems 
from  an  assumption  of  the  opening  of  an  internal 
eight,  though  the  possibility  of  the  latter  is  strong- 
ly implied,  and  indeed  in  almost  so  many  words 
asserted,  not  as  actual  with  themselves  simply, 
but  as  possible  for  their  readers.  They  virtually 
say  to  us — we  cannot  teach  you  the  "  one  thing," 
but  God  can;  and  "if  he  finds  you  sincere,  he 


CH.  XII.  ]  A   HEKMETIC   PHILOSOPHEE.  327 

will  not  only  show  you  a  way,  but  help  you  to 
find  it "  [Eyrenoeus  Cosmopolite^.  They  tell  us 
to  purify  ourselves  and  devote  our  affections  to 
God ;  and  that  then  we  may  learn  something  of 
God's  mysteries,  as  if  in  that  direction  we  might 
find  the  very  "  spirit  of  truth  "  itself,  the  "  Com- 
forter." 

If  this  teaching  should  be  thought  similar  to 
that  of  Jesus,  enforcing  the  necessity  of  "  doing  " 
the  will  of  his  Father,  it  cannot  on  that  account 
be  thought  less  entitled  to  attention ;  while  those 
who  are  in  possession  of  the  teachings  of  the 
Lord  ought  to  rejoice  that  the  deepest  experi- 
ences of  nature  are  testimonies  of  his  truth. 
Even  he  had  a  mystic  vein  in  his  teachings, 
speaking  "  only  "  in  parables  to  the  people,  but 
explaining  all  things  openly  to  his  disciples ; — 
and  this,  says  Roger  Bacon,  has  been  the  way 
with  "  wise  men  from  the  beginning." 

"If  the  mystic  writers  had  spoken  out  they 
might  perhaps  have  instructed  us  in  the  language 
of  Anebo  to  Jamblicus,  or  of  Jamblicus  to  him- 
self, to  wit : 

"  In  the  first  place,  therefore,  you  say — '  it 
must  be  granted  that  there  are  gods.'  But  thus 
to  speak,  ON  THIS  SUBJECT,  is  not  right.  For  an 
innate  knowledge  of  the  gods  is  coexistent  with 


328  SWEDENBOKG,  [On.  XII. 

our  very  essence ;  and  this  knowledge  is  superior 
to  all  judgment  and  deliberate  choice,  and  sub- 
sists prior  to  reason  and  demonstration.  It  is 
also  co-united  from  the  beginning  with  its  proper 
cause,  and  is  consubsistent  with  the  essential 
tendency  of  the  soul  to  the  good.  If,  indeed,  it 
be  necessary  to  speak  the  truth,  the  contact  with 
divinity  is  not  knowledge.  For  knowledge  is,  in 
a  certain  respect,  separated  or  distinguished  from 
its  object  by  a  sense  of  otherness.  But  prior  to 
the  knowledge,  which  as  one  thing  knows  an- 
other, there  is  the  uniform  connection  with  di- 
vinity, which  is  suspended  from  (or  caused  by) 
the  gods,  and  is  spontaneous  and  inseparable 
from  them.  Hence,  it  is  not  proper  to  grant 
this,  as  if  it  might  not  be  granted,  nor  to  admit 
it  as  ambiguous  or  doubtful  (for  it  is  always  uni- 
cally  established  in  energy) ;  nor  are  we  worthy 
thus  to  explore  it,  as  if  we  had  sufficient  authority 
to  approve  or  reject  it.  For  we  are  compre- 
hended in  it,  or,  rather,  we  are  filled  by  it,  and 
we  POSSESS  that  very  thing  which  we  ABE  in 
knowing  the  gods.*  I  shall  likewise  say  the 
same  thing  to  you,  concerning  the  more  excel- 
lent genera  that  follow  the  gods,  I  mean  daemons, 

*  The  readers  of  Falist  may  here  be  reminded  of  the  answer 
of  Faust  to  Margaret. 


CH.  XIL]  A   HERMETIC   PHILOSOPHEK.  329 

heroes,  and  undefiled  souls.  For  it  is  necessary 
to  understand  respecting  these,  that  there  is  al- 
ways in  them  one  definite  reason  of  essence,  and 
to  remove  from  them  the  indefiniteness  and  in- 
stability of  the  human  condition.  It  is  likewise 
requisite  to  separate  from  them  that  inclination 
to  one  side  of  an  argument  rather  than  another, 
arising  from  a  reasoning  process.  For  a  thing 
of  this  kind  is  foreign  from  the  principles  of  rea- 
son and  [natural]  life,  which  rather  tend  to  sec- 
ondary natures,  and  to  such  things  as  pertain  to 
the  power  and  contrariety  of  generated  things. 
But  it  is  necessary  that  the  more  excellent  genera 
should  be  apprehended  uniformly." 

"  The  connascent  perception,  therefore,  of  the 
perpetual  attendance  of  the  gods,  will  be  assimi- 
lated to  them.  Hence,  as  they  have  an  existence 
which  is  always  invariably  the  same,  thus  also 
the  human  soul  is  conjoined  to  them  by  knowl- 
edge, according  to  a  sameness  of  subsistence  ;  by 
no  means  pursuing,  through  conjecture,  or  opin- 
ion, or  a  reasoning  process, — all  of  which  origi- 
nate in  time, — an  essence  which  is  above  all 
these,  but  through  the  pure  and  blameless  intel- 
lections which  the  soul  received  from  eternity 
from  the  gods,  becoming  united  to  them.  You, 
however,  seem  to  think  that  there  is  the  same 


330  8WEDENBORG,  [On.  XII. 

knowledge  of  divine  natures  as  of  any  thing  else, 
and  that  one  thing,  rather  than  another,  may  be 
granted  from  opposites,  in  the  same  manner  as  it 
is  usual  to  do  in  dialectic  discussions.  There  is, 
however,  no  similitude  whatever  between  the  two 
kinds  of  knowledge.  For  the  knowledge  of  di- 
vine natures  is  different  from  that  of  other  things, 
and  is  separated  from  all  opposition.  It  likewise 
neither  subsists  in  being  now  granted,  or  in  be- 
coming to  be,  but  was  from  eternity  uniformly 
consubsistent  with  the  soul.  And  thus  much  I 
say  to  you  concerning  the  first  principle  in  us, 
from  which  it  is  necessary  those  should  begin, 
who  speak  or  hear  any  thing  about  the  natures 
that  are  superior  to  us." 

But  I  must  hasten  to  show,  by  a  brief  extract 
from  lamblicus,  that  in  thus  speaking  of  the  gods 
in  the  plural,  he  by  no  means  denied  the  unity. 
"  Since  (says  he)  the  order  of  all  the  gods  is  pro- 
foundly united,  and  the  first  and  the  second  gen- 
era of  them,  and  all  the  multitude  which  is  spon- 
taneously produced  about  them,  are  consubsistent 
in  unity,  and  also  every  thing  which  is  in  them  is 
one — therefore  the  beginning,  middles,  and  ends 
in  them  are  consubsistent  according  to  the  ONE 
itself;  so  that  in  these  it  is  not  proper  to  inquire 
whence  the  ONE  accedes  to  all  of  them.  For  the 


CH.  XII.]  A   HEEMETIO   PHILO8OPHEK.  331 

very  existence  in  them,  whatever  it  is,  is  THIS  ONE 
of  their  nature." 

Those  who  judge  by  words,  and  not  by  ideas, 
may  imagine  that  this  ONE  of  lamblicus  differs 
from  the  ESSE  of  substance,  defined  by  Sweden- 
borg  as  above  all  human  thought,  but  if  they  can, 
through  the  blessing  of  God,  come  into  contact 
with  that  divinity,  they  may  find  reason  to  be- 
lieve that  larnblicus  was  a  true  brother  of  man,  a 
true  member  of  the  human  family, — and  rejoice 
at  the  discovery  of  a  principle  of  union  so  exten- 
sive as  to  embrace  the  whole  race  of  man. 


6WEDENBOKG, 


CONCLUSION. 

As  these  pages  are  passing  through  the  press, 
I  have  fallen  in  with  an  interesting  Biography 
and  Exposition  of  Swedenborg,  by  Edwin  Paxton 
Hood, — interesting  from  the  earnestness  and  elo- 
quence of  the  writer.  I  have  not  time  to  read 
the  whole  work,  for  the  compositors  are  pressing 
upon  me.  1  observe  in  chapter  second  a  some- 
what elaborate  defence  of  Swedenborg's  claim  to 
visions  in  the  spiritual  world,  especially  in  refer- 
ence to  the  MEMORABLE  RELATIONS  to  be  found  in 
two  or  three  of  his  works ;  and  at  page  104  the 
author  recites  one  of  the  Relations,  the  object  of 
which  with  Swedenborg  was  simply  to  give  his 
opinion  of  a  class  of  men,  in  regard  to  their  moral, 
intellectual,  and  religious  condition,  of  "  a  lethar- 
gic understanding,  an  indolent  indisposition  to 
think  on  spiritual  subjects,  or  a  laziness  of  the 
will  in  the  execution  of  any  useful  purposes." 


A   HERMETIC   PHILOSOPHER.  333 

Mr.  Hood  admits  that  "  there  are  some  indi- 
cations which  might  lead  us  to  look  upon  the 
relations  as  simply  allegorical,  as  figurative  and 
representative  portraits  of  spiritual  things,  a  Pil- 
grim's Progress  through  the  spiritual  world ;  or 
as  a  gallery  of  paintings  representing  things  on 
the  earth,  and  in  the  course  of  happening  among 
men."  But  this  suggestion  is  immediately  nega- 
tived by  the  course  of  argument  by  which  the 
author  labors  to  prove  that  Swedenborg  actually 
saw  into  the  spiritual  world  in  a  supernatural 
sense. 

The  point  I  have  endeavored  to  set  forward 
is,  that  Swedenborg  regarded  the  inner  or  inter- 
nal man  as  in  the  spiritual  world,  and  he  wrote 
the  Relations  simply  from  that  point  of  view. 
Hence,  in  the  example  given  by  Mr.  Hood,  Swe- 
denborg merely  gives  his  opinion  of  the  state  of 
mind  and  religion  of  men  of  "  lethargic  under- 
standings," &c.,  and  of  a  preacher  appropriate 
(or  supported)  by  a  congregation  of  such  people. 
He  describes  the  place  as  cold,  &c.,  and  the 
preacher  "  commences  every  sentence  of  his  ser- 
mon with  an  ejaculation  of  praise  of  the  grand 
mystery,  and  ended  with  an  injunction  to  keep 
the  understanding  in  obedience  to  the  faith, 
affirming  that  man  is  only  a  man  with  respect  to 


SWEDENBOKG 


natural  things;  but  that,  upon  religious  things, 
he  has  no  power  to  think,  to  will,  to  understand  ; 
let  us  keep  our  understandings  in  obedience  to 
our  faith,  for  our  theology  is  like  a  bottomless 
abyss,  into  which  if  we  suffer  our  understand- 
ing to  look  down,  we  shall  become  giddy,  be 
drowned,  and  perish  as  in  a  shipwreck,"  &c. 

As  the  preacher  descends  from  the  pulpit  the 
people  press  around  him  saying,  "  We  are  ever 
bound  to  thank  thee  for  thy  most  excellent  dis- 
course, so  replete  with  the  grandest  wisdom." 
An  imaginary  traveller  asks  them, — "  Did  ye  un- 
derstand at  all  what  the  preacher  was  preaching 
about  ? "  and  they  replied,  "  We  took  all  in 
with  open  ears.  But  why  dost  thou  ask  whe- 
ther we  understand  it  ?  Is  not  the  under- 
standing quite  stupid  with  respect  to  such  sub- 
jects," &c.,  &c. 

How  is  it  possible  for  any  one  to  stumble 
at  the  drift  of  Swedenborg  in  this  sarcastic 
"  relation  1 "  It  is  nothing  and  can  be  nothing 
but  a  mode  of  expressing  his  opinion  of  cer- 
tain dull,  stupid  people  on  the  subject  of  re- 
ligion. 

Why,  is  it  asked,  did  he  throw  the  scene  into 
the  spiritual  world  ?  He  tells  us  himself — first, 
because  he  regarded  his  thoughts,  feelings,  and 


A   HERMETIC   PHILOSOPHER.  335 

opinions  as  spiritual;  and  then,  in  a  letter  to 
the  Swedish  Ambassador,  without  date,  page  166 
Documents,  he  says  he  introduced  the  Relations 
because  "  he  thought  that  such  remarkable  par- 
ticulars might  probably  excite  the  reader  to  their 
first  perusal."  "What  further  explanation  can  be 
desired?  But  is  not  such  a  course  at  variance 
with  truth?  Not  if  we  take  Swedenborg  with 
his  explanations,  instead  of  reading  him  frag- 
mentarily.  He  gives  us  the  key  if  we  will  only 
consent  to  use  it,  not  only  by  his  theory  of  man 
as  body,  soul,  and  spirit,  but  by  his  perpetually 
insisting  upon  the  fact  that  all  ancient  wisdom 
has  come  down  to  us  in  correspondences  and 
symbolism,  not  to  be  taken  literally,  but  to  be 
studied  out  in  the  spirit.  It  was  thus  he  received 
the  Bible  itself,  or  the  greater  part  of  it,  especial- 
ly the  beginning  and  the  end,  the  Pentateuch 
and  the  Revelation,  and  now  to  be  read  literally 
himself  he  might  well  consider  a  hardship. 


No  one  can  be  much  accustomed  to  read 
works  on  speculative  subjects,  or  reflect  much 
upon  what  are  called  spiritual  ideas,  without  be- 
ing strongly  impressed  with  the  danger  of  misun- 
derstanding what  is  written  or  spoken  of  such  in- 


336  SWEDENBOKG, 

visible  matters.  Every  thing  in  the  "  spirit-land  " 
may  be  named  by  many  words,  and,  again,  a  sin- 
gle word  may  be  employed  to  express  many 
things,  and  this  to  so  great  an  extent,  without  a 
design  to  make  confusion,  that  many  students 
despair  of  attaining  to  clearness  in  that  direction, 
when,  strange  to  say,  in  this  very  despair  a  light 
is  often  generated,  explaining  the  true  cause  of 
the  difficulty,  which  then  ceases  to  be  an  obstacle 
to  farther  progress.  I  cannot  conceal  from  my- 
self that  many  may  find  such  a  difficulty  in  com- 
prehending the  meaning  of  the  word  conscience, 
as  the  spirit  which  writes  the  "law  of  the  Lord" 
on  the  "  fleshy  tables  of  the  heart."  But  this  dif- 
ficulty seems  unnecessary,  if  we  would  look  at 
things,  and  not  attach  too  much  importance  to 
words.  Whether  we  speak  of  ambition  or  of  the 
spirit  of  ambition,  we  surely  speak  of  the  same 
thing ;  so,  if  we  speak  of  duty,  or  the  sense  of 
duty,  of  the  right  or  the  spirit  of  right,  of  justice 
or  the  spirit  of  justice,  we  speak  of  the  con- 
science, and  of  the  conscience  only,  with  this  only 
difference,  that,  in  one  case  we  may  think  of  some 
particular  duty,  and  in  another  we  may  refer  to 
the  law  as  a  principle,  or  as  the  substance  of  duty, 
and  of  right,  and  of  justice.  This  principle,  law, 
or  substance  of  duty,  is  that  which  Kant  called 


A  HERMETIC   PHILOSOPHEE.  337 

the  apodictic  command,  or  the  categorical  impera- 
tive, and  in  popular  language  is  called  the  con- 
science, but  in  religious  phraseology  it  may  be 
called  the  Holy  Spirit ;  for  it  is  certain  there  is 
nothing  in  man  more  holy  or  more  sacred,  and 
there  is  nothing  of  which  men  have  labored  to 
speak  more  impressively,  by  way  of  instruction 
and  ca.ution.  "A  palsy  may  as  well  shake  an  oak 
(Dr.  South  is  quoted  as  saying),  or  a  fever  dry  up 
a  fountain,  as  either  of  them  shake  or  impair  the 
delight  of  the  conscience.  For  it  lies  within,  it 
centres  in  the  heart,  it  grows  into  the  very  sub- 
stance of  the  soul,  so  that  it  accompanies  a  man 
to  his  grave ;  he  never  outlives  it,  and  that  for 
this  cause  only,  because  he  cannot  outlive  HIM- 
SELF." On  the  other  side,  when  it  condemns, 
Horace  is  quoted  as  saying  that  "  not  even  for 
an  hour  can  you  bear  to  be  alone,  nor  can  you 
advantageously  apply  your  leisure  time,  but  you 
endeavor,  a  fugitive  and  a  wanderer,  to  escape 
from  YOURSELF,  now  vainly  seeking  to  banish  re- 
morse by  wine,  and  now  by  sleep ;  but  the 
gloomy  companion  presses  on  you,  and  pursues 
you  as  you  fly." 

Fuller  is  quoted  as  saying :  "  If  thou  wouldst 
be  informed  what  God  has  written  concerning 

thee  in  Heaven,  look  into  thine  own  JJosom,  and 
15 


338  ,  SWEDENBOEG, 

see  what  graces  he  has  wrought  in  thee." — And 
Shakespeare  makes  one  exclaim  : 

"  What  stronger  breast-plate  than  a  heart  untainted  ? 
Thrice  is  he  armed,  that  hath  his  quarrel  just ; 
And  he  but  naked,  though  locked  up  in  steel, 
Whose  Conscience  with  injustice  is  corrupted." 

Crdbbe  is  quoted  as  saying : 

Oh,  Conscience  !  Conscience  !  man's  most  faithful  friend. 
Him  canst  thou  comfort,  ease,  relieve,  defend : 
But  if  he  will  thy  friendly  checks  forego, 
Thou  art,  Oh !  wo  for  me,  his  deadliest  foe  ! " 

Our  own  Washington  calls  the  conscience  a 
celestial  fire,  the  very  symbol  of  the  Hermetic 
writers.  "  Labor,"  says  he,  "  to  keep  alive  in 
your  breast  that  little  spark  of  celestial  fire,  called 
Conscience." 

Oudworth  is  quoted  as  saying  that — "  A  good 
Conscience  within  will  be  always  better  to  a  Chris- 
tian than  health  to  his  navel,  and  marrow  to  his 
bones;  it  will  be  an  everlasting  cordial  to  his 
heart ;  it  will  be  softer  to  him  than  a  bed  of  down. 
A  good  Conscience  is  the  best  looking-glass  of 
Heaven." 

This  is  said  of  a  good  conscience,  as  if  there 
might  be  a  bad  conscience ;  but  this  is  by  a  mere 
transference  of  terras.  N"o  man  has  a  bad  con- 


A   HERMETIC   PHILOSOPHER.  339 

science,  but  a  bad  man  may  be  very  much  trou- 
bled by  a  good  conscience ;  for,  so  far  as  a  man 
has  a  conscience  at  all,  it  must  be  good. 

Many  suppose  that  the  conscience  approves 
of  some  things  known  to  be  evil ;  but  this  is  a 
mistake ;  for,  in  all  such  supposed  cases  the  mis- 
chief proceeds  from  the  immature  state  of  the 
man,  in  whom  the  conscience  does  not  act  freely. 
It  is  on  this  account  that  the  Alchemists  have  so 
much  to  say  of  what  they  call  separation,  or  dis- 
solution— or,  in  other  words,  the  analysis  of  the 
soul  in  its  operations,  by  which  it  attains  to  a 
knowledge  of  its  true  principles  of  action,  when 
the  conscience,  eliminated  from  all  selfishness 
proper  to  the  natural  man,  shows  itself  always 
one  and  the  same  principle. 

To  guard  their  students  on  this  point,  Her- 
metic writers  are  careful  to  urge  the  necessity, 
in  the  student,  of  ascertaining  the  precise  inten- 
tion with  which  he  sets  about  the  study,  one 
only  intention  being  suitable  to  it,  to  wit,  a  love 
of  the  truth  for  the  sake  of  the  truth.  They  tell 
the  student  to  consider  the  last  intention  as  the 
first  principle  in  his  philosophy — as  if  they  would 
warn  us  that  every  man's  philosophy  must  take 
its  color  from  the  motive  or  intention  leading  the 
student  to  it. 


340  SWEDENBOKG, 

As  the  Hermetic  philosophers  are  constantly 
speaking  of  two  things,  as  well  as  of  one  and  three, 
so  Swedenborg  speaks  of  two  consciences,  an  in- 
ward and  an  outward  conscience ;  and  if  a  dis- 
tinction of  this  sort  be  considered  as  valid,  I  then 
would  ask  that  the  inward  conscience  be  consid- 
ered as  here  referred  to — the  inward,  as  the  es- 
sential law  of  right  within  man. 

To  any  one,  however,  who  finds  himself  im- 
peded in  his  studies  and  contemplations  on  this 
subject,  I  would  suggest  the  effort  to  find  some 
other  Spirit  whose  office  it  is  to  write  the  Law 
on  the  heart,  according  to  St.  Paul's  understand- 
ing of  it,  and  so  far  as  I  have  indicated  any 
theory  for  the  explanation  of  Hermetic  Books,  I 
have  no  objection  to  such  a  change  of  names, 
calling  this  for  that  which  I  have  called  the 
conscience,  as  may  most  clearly  express  the 
thing. 

I  have  not  merely  spoken  of  the  conscience, 
but  of  the  conscience  purified  in  the  sight  of 
God,  or  under  a  sense  of  God's  presence;  yet 
when  I  speak  of  purifying  the  conscience  I  mean 
always  the  MAN — not  admitting  that  the  con- 
science, considered  in  itself,  is  capable  of  defile- 
ment. As  I  have  said  in  my  Remarks  on  Al- 
y,  it  can  neither  be  bribed  nor  hoodwinked, 


A   HERMETIC   PHILOSOPHER.  341 

and,  when  once  aroused,  it  can  never  be  silenced 
but  by  submission  to  it.  "When  it  condemns,  it 
is  called,  in  Hermetic  jargon,  wormwood,  the 
juice  of  sour  grapes,  and  the  like ;  but  when  it 
attains  an  acknowledged  supremacy,  it  is  called 
oil,  and,  finally,  elixir,  the  elixir  of  Life. 

It  may  interest  the  curious  reader  to  assume 
for  a  moment — for  experiment  sake — that  this  is 
truly  the  Holy  Spirit,  and  then  observe  how 
much  of  sacred  writ,  regarded  as  symbolical  and 
figurative,  may  be  referred  to  it,  and  how  large  a 
portion  may  be  explained  by  it. 

I  pass  by  the  first  query  that  arises  with 
many — Can  any  good  thing  come  out  of  such  a 
Nazareth  as  a  common  man  (John  i.  46),  and  the 
declaration  also  that  it  cannot  do  any  mighty 
works,  such  as  removing  "mountains"  of  sin, 
because  of  "unbelief"  (Matt.  xiii.  58).  Not  to 
think  exaltedly  of  the  Conscience — to  have  little 
or  no  faith  in  its  efficacy — is  to  render  it  measur- 
ably of  no  avail ;  but  let  faith  arise  in  it,  though 
compared  to  a  mustard  seed  in  magnitude,  and 
possibly  it  may  grow  to  become  the  largest  of 
trees,  regulating,  and  taming,  and  giving  "  shel- 
ter "  to  all  the  thoughts  and  passions  of  man — 
themselves  compared  to  birds  and  beasts. 

But,  as  intimated  above,  let  it  be  supposed 


342  SWEDENEORG, 

for  a  moment  that  the  Conscience,  even  in  the 
so-called  natural  man,  is  the  Holy  Spirit,  and  let 
us  observe  how  aptly  it  may  explain  many  things 
in  the  sacred  writings. 

This,  then,  is  the  Spirit  which,  in  reference  to 
the  immature  or  imperfect  man — the  true  chaos 
— is  said  to  have  been  in  the  world,  and  yet  the 
world,  that  is,  the  natural  or  carnal  man,  knew  it 
not. 

This  is  the  Light  which  shineth  in  darkness, 
and  the  darkness,  that  is,  the  unregenerate  man, 
comprehendeth  it  not. 

This  is  the  ubiquitous  Spirit  which  is  with  us 
in  Heaven,  and  no  less  in  Hell,  the  "  Maker  "  of 
both, — in  the  one  case  blessing  us,  and  in  the 
other  condemning  us,  while  yet  it  is  but  one  and 
the  same  Spirit. 

This  is  the  Spirit  which  knocketh  at  the  door 
of  every  man's  heart,  asking  admission,  and 
which  we  are  warned  not  to  grieve  away. 

This  is  the  Spirit  which  was  before  Abraham, 
and  whose  coming  has  been  the  prediction  of  all 
time,  at  whose  coming  the  world,  that  is,  the 
man  in  whom  it  comes,  is  judged. 

This  is  the  Comforter  which,  when  it  comes  to 
any  man,  reproves  the  man  of  sin  because  he  has 
not  believed  in  it. 


A   HERMETIC   PHILOSOPHER.  343 

This  is  the  Spirit  which  appeals  to  the  sinner 
in  the  affecting  language,  Come  nnto  me,  all  ye 
that  labor  and  are  heavy  laden,  and  I  will  give 
you  rest : — for  the  rest  here  spoken  of  is  moral 
rest  and  has  no  reference  to  mere  physical  evils, 
except  that  moral  rest  is  the  way  to  a  power  of 
endurance  beyond  the  ordinary  or  natural  power 
of  man,  having  its  root  in  a  genuine  humility : — 
for  the  genuine  strength  of  man  lies  in  the  power 
of  God. 

Again:  This  is  the  Spirit  at  whose  name 
every  knee  shall  bow ;  and  when  all  things  shall 
be  subdued  unto  it,  then  shall  this  Spirit  be  sub- 
ject unto  Him  that  put  all  things  under  Mm,  that 
God  may  be  all  in  all. 

This  is  the  Spirit,  again,  to  whom,  personified, 
we  are  commanded  to  go  with  a  full  confession 
of  our  sins,  through  whose  vicarious  suffering  we 
are  pardoned.  This  is  a  deep  point  in  philosophy 
which  however  was  well  understood  by  Plato, 
who  shows  that  a  sinner  can  never  be  reinstated 
without  a  certain  punishment  as  a  purification. 
The  sinner,  according  to  Plato,  is  an  unhappy 
man,  miserable  in  the  midst  of  his  joys,  until  he 
is  punished;  yet  the  punishment  referred  to  is 
not  external  but  internal ;  meaning  that  the  sin- 
ner must  internally  suffer  the  pangs  of  a  wounded 


344  SWEDENBORG, 

conscience,  as  the  phrase  is,  before  he  can  be  re- 
covered to  a  state  of  virtue.  Now,  in  such  a  case 
the  conscience  is  said  to  suffer ;  but  this  I  have 
called  a  metonymy,  or  the  substitution  of  one 
word  for  another ;  for,  as  I  have  said,  it  is  not 
the  conscience  that  suffers,  but  the  man,  that  is, 
the  sinner.  The  wicked  man  suffers  under  the 
judgment  of  a  sinless  conscience,  which  in  itself 
does  not  and  cannot  suffer.  The  conscience,  I 
repeat,  is  in  itself  both  without  sin  and  without 
suffering,  and  by  its  condemnation  of  the  sinner 
the  sinner  is  prepared  for  pardon ;  which  is  final- 
ly pronounced  by  the  conscience  itself,  when  the 
repentant  state  is  perfectly  completed,  and  not 
before.  But  the  conscience,  being  substituted 
for  man,  is  said  to  suffer,  the  innocent  for  the 
guilty ;  and  this  is  expiatory  suffering,  which  is 
not  only  necessary,  but  there  is  no  other  princi- 
ple given  under  Heaven  whereby  man  can  feel 
himself  redeemed. 

Here,  too,  we  see  the  importance  of  faith, 
for  without  faith  in  the  Holy  Spirit,  no  man  will 
submit  himself  to  it  and  make  its  commands  the 
Law  of  his  Life. 

This  is  the  Spirit  of  God  which  is  in  the  world 
(man)  reconciling  the  world  to  God — whose  bid- 


A  HERMETIC   PHILOSOPHER.  345 

ding  we  are  commanded  to  "  do,"  if  we  would 
"  know  "  that  it  is  of  God. 

I  may  be  told  that  the  conscience  is  morbid 
in  some  men,  and  a  most  dangerous  counsellor — 
that  at  the  bidding  of  conscience  the  most  terri- 
ble crimes  have  been  committed ;  but  I  answer, 
no :  men  have  abused  the  conscience,  hoping,  to 
make  it  the  means  of  attaining  untold  rewards, 
both  in  this  and  in  another  life.  Men  have  de- 
sired to  get  to  heaven — they  have  intended  heav- 
en, making  conscience  the  instrument,  but  the 
conscience  disowns  such  a  use  of  itself,  and 
"jealous  "  of  its  honor,  will  be  served  for  itself 
alone.  The  intention  must  not  look  beyond  the 
duty  whose  consequences  must  be  valued  less 
than  the  duty,  and  they  must  be  received  on 
trust — trust  in  God. 

I  may  be  told  that  the  Conscience  fails  in 
power,  and  leaves  the  mail  to  suffer ;  but,  can 
any  other  spirit  save  such  a  man  ?  You  will  say, 
perhaps,  that  religion  can  save  him :  yes,  truly, 
but  it  saves  him  through  a  purified  Conscience, 
for  an  unpurified  conscience  and  religion,  that  is, 
impiety  and  piety,  can  never  coalesce.  The 
Conscience,  I  have  said,  is  the  Way  ; — I  have  no- 
where said  it  is  the  End. 

This  view  may  offer  a  theoretic  explanation 
15* 


346  SWEDENBORG, 

of  the  story  of  the  destruction  of  children  by 
Herod.  Thus : — Among  the  infinity  of  princi- 
ples or  passions  born  in  man,  there  is  only  one 
absolutely  innocent  and  immortal.  This  one  is 
not,  strictly  speaking,  born  in  man,  but  man  is 
spiritually  "  born  in  it."  This  one  opposes  the 
natural  man  while  in  what  St.  Paul  calls  the 
natural  state,  and  the  natural  man,  the  Herod  in 
this  case,  seeks  to  destroy  it,  which,  however,  he 
cannot  do.  In  the  attempt,  on  the  contrary, 
good  is  brought  out  of  evil,  and  the  other  "chil- 
dren" of  man,  which,  in  respect  to  themselves, 
are  innocent  also  (but,  as  wild  beasts  are  inno- 
cent), are  cut  off.  and  thus  the  divine  in  man  is 
preserved.  This  mode  of  explanation  might  save 
us  the  trouble  of  considering  how  it  was  possible 
that  any  Roman  governor  could  dare  to  destroy 
all  the  children  of  a  great  city,  under  two  years 
of  age,  and  not  be  called  to  account  for  it ;  and 
it  would  relieve  us  also  from  the  difficulty  of 
explaining  how  such  an  enormity  could  have 
taken  place  without  being  so  much  as  hinted  at 
by  any  Roman  historian.  This  mode  of  interpre- 
tation may  also  save  us  the  trouble  of  explaining 
why  neither  Josephus  nor  Philo  say  any  thing 
of  Jesus  Christ — the  confessedly  spurious  passage 
in  the  former  being  set  aside — while  both  of  them 


A   HERMETIC    PHILOSOPHEE.  347 

give  an  extended  account  of  the  Essenes  among 
the  Jews,  with  doctrines  corresponding  to  those 
of  the  gospels. 

If  we  call  this  spirit  the  SON,  we  may  easily 
conceive  how  his  eternal  generation  is  to  be  un- 
derstood ;  how  he  is  one  with  the  Father,  of 
his  very  substance,  and  how  born  of  the  eternal 
virgin  mother  of  all  things,  and  yet  but  one  only 
Son,  who,  becoming  flesh  in  "  the  man  Christ  Je- 
sus," spake  forth  the  commands  of  the  Father, 
our  "  conscience  bearing  witness "  that  he  spake 
the  very  truth.  In  this  direction  we  may  under- 
stand what  the  Hermetic  writers  mean  when  they 
speak  of  water  mingling  with  water  (spirit  with 
spirit) ;  for  as  Christ  is  one  with  God,  so  is  he 
one  with  man,  and  to  as  many  as  receive  this 
doctrine  in  spirit  and  in  truth,  God  gives  "  the 
power  of  becoming  sons  of  God," — John  1.  12 ; 
or,  as  St.  Paul  expresses  it — "  As  many  as  are 
led  by  the  Spirit  of  God,  they  are  the  sons  of 
God." 

This  view  might  be  still  further  followed  out 
by  interpreting  the  scene  of  the  Passion  as  de- 
signed to  teach  that,  of  the  three  principles  of 
Body,  Spirit,  and  Soul,  one  is  essentially  eternal. 
Personified,  He  is  in  the  middle  between  the 
other  two,  who  are  called  thieves  because,  while 


348  SWEDENBORG, 

in  the  body,  these  assume  and  exercise  an  unlaw- 
ful authority  over  the  true  Life,  while  yet  one  of 
the  two  may,  by  uniting  with  the  Spirit,  be  ("to- 
day") in  Paradise.  The  soul,  by  uniting  itself 
to  the  spirit,  becomes  immortal ;  but  by  yielding 
to  the  body  it  perishes  with  the  body.  This  soul, 
according  to  Swedenborg,  is  the  spiritual  body 
of  man,  the  real  individual  man,  which,  yet  has 
no  life  in  itself,  but  only  in  the  spirit,  the  life  of 
which  is  appropriated  by  Love. 

No  one  need  hastily  suppose  that  in  this  view 
the  historical  is  denied.  This  is  called  the  letter, 
and  is  no  further  denied  than  may  be  implied  in 
the  doctrine  that  the  spirit  (of  the  letter)  is  of 
more  importance  than  the  letter,  and  is  essential 
to  its  interpretation,  carrying  its  interpretations, 
— after  the  manner  of  Origen, — even  to  the  mir- 
acles, all  of  which  have  a  moral  or  spiritual 
significance. 

Swedenborg  did  not  deny  the  letter.  He 
called  it  the  ultimate,  and  the  continent  of  the 
spirit.  He  also  called  it  the  effect,  and  to  affirm 
the  effect  was  also  to  affirm  the  spirit;  but  to 
understand  the  effect,  it  is  necessary  according  to 
Swedenborg  to  understand  or  to  know  the  spirit, 
which  nevertheless  is  contained  in  the  letter.  To 
hold  to  the  letter  and  not  seek  the  spirit,  is  like 


A   HERMETIC   PHILOSOPHER.  349 

the  endeavor  to  bold  to  the  natural  life ;  which, 
whoso  seeks  to  save  shall  lose  it,  as  we  read ;  but 
to  lose  the  letter  in  devotion  to  the  spirit  is  to 
find  the  very  truth  from  which  the  letter  pro- 
ceeded ;  while  to  lose  the  letter,  except  in  devo- 
tion to  the  spirit,  ["for  my  sake,"  as  expressed  in 
the  gospel,]  is  to  lose  both  the  letter  and  the 
spirit ;  and  this  is  to  lose  one's  self,  and  to  wander 
perpetually  in  the  "dark  wood"  of  Dante. 

To  find  the  spirit,  and  to  walk  in  it,  is  to  find 
the  "law  of  the  Lord"  and  "walk  therein,"  and 
this  is  to  "  walk  with  God."  When  the  law  of 
the  Lord  is  said  to  be  "  perfect,"  as  we  read  in 
Scripture,  the  spirit  is  spoken  of, — the  eternal 
Law,  the  "  Word," — which  St.  Paul  labored  to 
make  known  for  the  purpose  of  showing  its  su- 
premacy over  the  written  law,  which  he  speaks 
of  as  a  veil,  figuratively  placing  it  over  the  hearts 
of  the  Jews ;  and  this  veil  he  tells  us  is  "  done 
away  in  Christ,"  that  is,  in  the  spirit,  the  unwrit- 
ten law  in  the  heart,  which  neither  is  nor  can  be 
any  thing  but  the  law  of  conscience,  and  we 
abuse  ourselves  when  we  seek  for  it  elsewhere. 

Hence  the  language,  "  When  the  wicked  man 
turneth  away  from  his  wickedness  that  he  hath 
committed,  and  doeth  that  which  is  lawful  and 

t,  he  shall  save  his  soul  alive"     What  is  it 


350  SWEDENBORG, 

to  do  that  which  is  lawful  and  right  ?  Kead  all 
the  philosophy  that  has  ever  been  written  on  the 
subject,  and  in  the  end  the  rule  is  found  in  the 
conscience,  or  it  is  not  found  at  all ; — but  it  must 
be  the  conscience  itself,  and  neither  fear,  nor 
hope,  nor  any  other  passion  mistaken  for  the 
spirit  itself,  the  spirit  of  truth,  which,  like  the 
law  of  the  Lord,  is  also  said  to  be  "perfect." 
There  are  many  synonyms  for  the  principle  at 
the  root  of  this  discussion,  including  justice — and 
this  in  connection  with  perfection, — as,  "The 
path  of  the  just  man  shineth  to  perfect  day;" 
and  "  mark  t}\Q  perfect  man ;  and  behold  the  up- 
right :  for  the  end  of  that  man  is  peace." 

This  doctrine  does  not  impugn  the. eternal 
truth,  that  every  good  and  perfect  gift  is  from 
above ;  in  keeping  with  which,  all  of  the  mystic 
writers,  including  Swedenborg,  agree  that  their 
secret  is  the  gift  of  God ;  but  the  conscience  is 
the  "  way,"  the  Nazareth,  out  of  which  it  comes, 
or  in  which,  when  the  man  is  properly  prepared, 
the  Spirit  is  manifested;  which  preparation, 
nevertheless,  however  difficult  it  may  be  to  un- 
derstand it,  is  made  by  the  Spirit ;  and  this  is  so 
true,  that  the  Hermetic  writers  say  that  if  any 
man  shall  glory  in  its  possession,  and  shall  not 
give  the  glory  to  God,  ho  shall  lose  it — so  little 


A   HERMETIC   PHILOSOPHER.  351 

docs  this  doctrine  minister  to  the  presumption 
and  idle  vanity  of  man. 

It  is  certainly  remarkable  that  there  seems  to 
be  three  modes  by  which  the  Christian  Religion 
is  received  in  the  world,  not  perhaps  absolutely 
distinct  from  each  other, — in  this  respect  like  the 
body,  soul,  and  spirit  of  man, — yet  sufficiently 
marked  to  be  distinguished  from  each  other.  In 
one  view  it  is  received  historically,  and  its  truth 
is  supposed  to  rest  upon  historical  evidences  so 
strong  that  no  man  in  his  senses  can  reject  the 
testimony.  From  this  point  of  view  the  mira- 
cles are  especially  appealed  to ;  but  I  am  not 
ignorant  that  in  the  class  that  appeals  to  tes- 
timony there  is  often  with  individuals  a  much 
higher  evidence,  that  of  the  spirit,  not  always 
clearly  discerned. 

We  next  come  to  a  class  in  which  the  intel- 
lect is  cultivated,  introducing  the  student  into 
more  or  less  incomplete  philosophical  princi- 
ples; and  here  we  find  the  chief  controversies 
touching  the  externals  of  religion ;  and  religion 
itself  is  treated  as  if  so  dependent  upon  these 
that  it  is  supposed  to  share  their  fate.  Here 
we  find  ingenious  assaults  upon  the  letter,  and 
acrimonious  defences  of  both  the  letter  and  the 
spirit. 


352  SWEDENBOKG. 

A  third  class,  more  reserved  and  contempla- 
tive, say  but  little  or  nothing  of  the  letter  or  ex- 
ternal form,  and  seem  to  reach  an  idea  of  the 
truth,  with  more  or  less  of  fulness,  as  it  is,  or, 
speaking  historically,  as  it  was  in  Jesus, — the 
spirit  of  truth,  the  eternal  Word,  manifesting  it- 
self indeed  in  time,  but  existing  eternally  beyond 
and  above  all  controversy. 

In  this  latter  class  I  place  the  genuine  Her- 
metic Philosophers,  including  many  misunder- 
stood people  in  different  ages  of  the  world, 
under  various  names,  as  alchemists,  astrolo- 
gists,  magicians,  &c.,  and  in  this  class  I  re- 
cognize the  Swedish  Philosopher,  EMANUEL  SWE- 

DENBOKG. 


THE    END. 


A  LIST  OF 

ISTEW   WORKS 

IN    GENERAL    It  I  T  E  R  A  T  U  B  K 

PUBLISHED    BY 

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Burdett,       ."..*.                $8 

Self-Control,         ...                38 

Goldmaker's     Village.       By    H. 
Zschokke,    .....        38 

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Never  Too  Late.    By  Charles  Bar- 

Grace  and  Clara  ;  or,  Be  Just  as 
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Jessie  Graham  ;  or,  Friends  Dear, 
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Emily  Herbert  :  or,  The    Happy 

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Literature. 

An  Attic  Philosopher  in  Paris, 
Appletons'  Library  Manual,    . 
Agnell's  Book  of  Chess, 
Arnold'*  Miscellaneous  Works,      .    V 
Arthur.  The  Successful  Merchant,         s 
A  Book  for  Summer  Time  in  the 

Domestic     Tales.        By    Hannah 
More.  >2v,,ls  15 
K«riy  Friendship.  By  Mrs.  Copley,        3(1 
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Cameron,      ....                 83 

RnUhvin'sFluchTimesinAlfbaBia,    1  'it 
Calhoun  (J.  C.),  Works  of.  4  voU. 

Clark's*  ("w.  G'.)  Ko'ick  Knacks,    .'    1  M 

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"     Hearu  and  Hornet,        .        .    1  50 
"     Prevention  Better  than  Cure,        75 
Foster's  Essays  on  Christian  Morals,        50 
Goldsmith's  Vicar  of  Wakefield,    .       75 

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Papers  from  the  Quarterly  Review,        M 
Republic  of  the  United  Suites.    Its 
Duties,  Ac.    •       .        .        .        .    1  Ox 
Preservation  of  Health  and  Preven- 
tion of  Disease.    ....        71 
School  for  Politics.      By  Charles 

Grant's  Memoirs  of  an  American 

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Shakespeare's  Scholar.    By  R.  G. 
White  3  M 

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Life's  Discipline.     A  Tale  of  Hun- 

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Jeames'  Diary.     A  Leguid  of  the 
Rhine  M 

Maiden  and  Married  Life  of  Mary 
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Christian's  Choice,      ...        78 
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Clarke's  Scripture  Promises.  Corn- 

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beria,         31 

Wanier's   Rudimental   Lessons  in 
Music,  .                ....       50 

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